What purpose would serve us
a clock?
if we wash the white clothes:
it is day
the dark clothes:
it is night
if you part with a knife an orange
in two:
day
if you open with your fingers a ripe
fig:
night
if we spill water:
day
if we overturn wine:
night
when we hear the toaster’s alarm
or the kettle like a small animal
that would try to sing:
day
when we open certain slow books
and maintain them alight
at the expense of alcohol, cigarettes, silence:
night
if we sweeten the tea:
day
if we don’t sweeten it:
night
if we sweep the house or wax it:
day
if on it we wipe damp cloths:
night
if we have migraines, eczemas, allergies:
day
if we have fever, cramps, swellings:
night
aspirins, X-rays, urine test:
day
bandages, compressions, ointments:
night
if I heat in bain-marie the honey that crystallized
or use lemons to clean the glass:
day
if after eating apples
I keep on a whim the dark purple paper:
night
if I beat the whites into snow:
day
if I cook large beets:
night
if we write with pencil on lined paper:
day
if we fold the sheets or crease them:
night
(expansions and peaks:
day
layers and folds:
night)
if you forget in the oven a yellow
cake:
day
if you leave the water to boil
alone:
night
if through the window the ocean is quiet
sluggish and greasy
like a puddle of oil:
day
if it is furious
foaming
like a rabid dog:
night
if a penguin reaches Ipanema
and laying itself on the hot sand senses its gelid heart
boiling:
day
if a whale runs aground during low tide
and dies heavy, dark,
as in an opera, singing:
night
if you unbutton slowly
your white blouse:
day
if we undress with anxiety
creating around us an ardent circle of cloths:
night
if a green brilliant beetle beats repetitively
against the glass:
day
if a round bee circles the room
disoriented by sex:
night
What purpose would serve us
a clock?
