Saturday, December 13, 2008

Cleaving Saramago



The Man Who Was
—for José Saramago


In one sense—it could be said


letter-by-letter—word-by-word


page-by-page—book after book


I’ve implanted—in the man I was


the characters—I created


without them—I wouldn't be


the person—I am today


without them—my life would


have been—an inexact sketch


a promise—of the existence of


someone—who might have been


but in the end—wasn’t




—Nobel Prize, 1998






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