And some gigantic cakes of ice
And to meet a few South American writers?
I could have imagined all this without coming here
And slightly increased my changes of staying alive.
I used to think it didn't matter how long I lived
But didn't know how it did matter how much I saw
And could write about and how many people I met.
I'll have to take my life in my hands again now to go back
From life "down here"
I say "down here" because of the way it is on the map.
I have gone mainly east and south because that's where everything was
that I wanted to see.
Finally, when I was almost sixty I went west, to China.
Where were things I wanted to see but I hadn't known
I could get to with my physical presence
Which is everything, the reason for life.
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by Kennth Koch, 2002
