I once received a present

I once received a present.

Without the aid of sight, time became a pebble

-strewn river bed; a harmonious clatter along

the bottom of existence; the light held

the milky rhythm of sand, and in certain spots

where salmon wedged between the rocks,

their silver flapping located distance;

soon, the river led me to the sea. Shadows

slid miles of beach without weather; honey

-infused nonsense oozed from the waves;

patterns bore their weight against folds

of flesh. Borges walked along the shore, jaded,

making fists before rapping me upside the head

with his shoe while condemning the whole affair.

I still remember the granulation of his hands.