“We openthe halvesof a miracle,and a clotting of acidsbrimsinto the starrydivisions:creation'soriginal juices,irreducible, changeless,alive:so the freshness lives on”

“So the freshness lives onin a lemon,in the sweet-smelling house of the rind,the proportions, arcane and acerb.”

“And our problems will crumble apart, the soul / blow through like a wind, and here where we livewill all be clean again, with fresh bread on the table.”

“There were thirst and hunger, and you were the fruit.There were grief and the ruins, and you were the miracle.”

“LXXIXWhen I die, I want your hands on my eyes.I want the light and wheat of your beloved hands to pass their freshness over me once more.I want to feel the softness that changed my destiny.I want you to live while I wait for you, asleep.I want your ears still to hear the wind, I want you to sniff the sea's aroma that we loved together,to continue to walk on the sand we walk on.I want what I love to continue to live,and you whom I love and sang above everything else.to continue to flourish, full-flowered.So that you can reach everything my love directs you to. So that my shadow can travel along in your hair,so that everything can learn the reason for my song.”

“This time is difficult, wait for me:we will live it out vividly.Give me your small hand:we will rise and suffer,we will feel and rejoice.We are once more the pairwho lived in bristling places,in harsh nests in the rock.This time is difficult, wait for mewith a basket, with a shovel,with your shoes and your clothes.Now we need each othernot only for the carnations' sake,not only to look for honey:we need our handsto wash with and to make fire,and so let our difficult timestand up to infinitywith four hands and four eyes.”

“If we were not so single-mindedabout keeping our lives movingand for once could do nothing,perhaps a huge silencemight interrupt this sadnessof never understanding ourselvesand of threatening ourselves with deathPerhaps the world can teach usas when everything seems deadbut later proves to be alive.”