this was the very first wine we
shared together.  do you

remember?  and like this wine,
i am aging, growing old.

but every day that i am left alone
in the cool damp darkness of

your mind, i get stronger, like
a shigaraki tea bowl or a

battle-weary moon at dawn.

so ignore me, mock me, laugh.
it doesn’t matter.  for my

lips grow lovely and full, my

spirit more awesome in silence.

and if you should open me up in

a hundred, in a thousand years,

i shall bloom, towering into the

sky and sing for you, just as i did

when i was young and beautiful,

and you — you were once in love.