Aphorisms

Whatever I take, I take too much or too little; I do not take 
the exact amount. The exact amount is no use to me.

                      *

When one does not love the impossible, one does not love anything.

                      *

Every time I wake I understand how easy it is to be nothing.

                      *

Now you do not know what to do, not even when you go back to being 
a child. And it is sad to see a child who does not know what to do.

                      *

Only a few arrive at nothing, because the way is long.

From Voices by Antonio Porchia, translated by W. S. Merwin. Translation copyright © 2003 by W. S. Merwin. Reprinted by permission of Copper Canyon Press. All right reserved.