There are days when it’s so hard –
so vain – to swallow even a gulp,

Days when I lack the strength to be dazzled
by the fragrance of flowers leaning towards you.

All of it exists for a moment to remain,
as when a bee flies by with advice:
one, two, three – open your eyes!

And you see the taut, shining
strings of being –

quivering, diaphanous threads
stretching up high from every
animate thing.

Later, there will be more
long days...

(But some gifts are too large
to be nicely wrapped.)