A poem from an Argentine

 

The Story of My Death

By Leopoldo Lugones 

1875-1938

(trans Ilan Stavans)

I dreamed of death and it was quite simple:

A silk thread enwrapped me,

And each kiss of yours

With a turn unraveled me.

And each of your kisses

Was a day;

And the time between two kisses,

A night.  Death is quite simple.

And little by little the fatal thread

Unwrapped itself.  I no longer controlled it

But for a single bit between my fingers...

Then, suddenly, you became cold,

And no longer kissed me...

I let the thread go, and my life vanished.