Midnight, and a messenger comes from a prayer niche,
someone as quiet as moonlight,
yet with a torch that burns our sleeping.
A king knocks on the doorkeeper's door
and laughing, leads everyone out to a table.
Our lips tremble at the cup, with the same trembling
as a drop of mercury.
The gentleness of the host is the same
as that that made the elegance of the ermine.
The dry and wet of a love affair,
those tears are identical to the taking in
and giving away of a waterwheel's turning.
The keys that open all gates
are strapped to love's chest.
When a bird is completely broken and still,
it gets removed from the snare.
This list of rude likenesses
does not come near saying
what happens in our lives.
