PLEASE BRING STRANGE THINGS

Please bring strange things.
Please come bringing new things.
Let very old things come into your hands.
Let what you do not know come into your eyes.
Let desert sand harden your feet.
Let the arch of your feet be the mountains.
Let the paths of your fingertips be your maps
And the ways you go be the lines of your palms.
Let there be deep snow in your inbreathing
And your outbreath be the shining of ice.
May your mouth contain the shapes of strange words.
May you smell food cooking you have not eaten.
May the spring of a foreign river be your navel.
May your soul be at home where there are no houses.
Walk carefully, well-loved one,
Walk mindfully, well-loved one,
Walk fearlessly, well-loved one.
Return with us, return to us,
Be always coming home.

- Ursula K. Le Guin

(Thanks, B.)

The Good Boy

I’ll never learn how to take off my shoes and let the city

bite my feet

I won’t get drunk under bridges, I won’t make mistakes

of style.

I accept this destiny of ironed shirts,

I get to the movies on time, I give up my seat to old ladies.

Extended derangement of the senses make me sick, I prefer

toothpaste and towels. I have my vaccinations.

Look at this lousy lover, incapable of jumping into a

fountain

to catch you a little red fish

in front of the outraged eyes of cops and nannies.

- Julio Cortázar