Story of My Death


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.


Leopoldo Lugones (tr. Ilan Stavans)