Blue Octavo Haiku
after Kafka
In fat armchairs sat
indolence and impatience,
plotting my downfall
–
A wicked cage flew
across the long horizon
searching for a bird.
–
I burned with love in
empty rooms, I sternly turned
knives within myself.
–
"Behold the bright gate,"
the keeper said. "I am now
going to shut it."
–
Hardly was the road
swept clean when ah! there appeared
new piles of dry leaves.
–
But nothing could kill
a faith like a guillotine,
as heavy, as light.
–
Happiness? Finding
your indestructible core;
leaving it alone.
–
Into the heavens
flew a breathless legion of
impossible crows.
– Rachel Wetzsteon (1967-2009)
[daily log: walking, 2 km]