wind off a dragonfly’s wings

M. Hébert

People living deeply have no fear of death
Anais Nin


I awoke this morning 
with a thought,
right there,
as if it was waiting 
for my eyes to see the day,
a vision, 
a sense of the end of it all,
my life I mean,
how all this time has been 
but a puff of air,
the wind off a dragonfly's wings,

and me,
a timid acrobat, 
pondering life with one toe
on a shivering wire, 
my slender bridge over
a fearful chasm
while the dragonfly drifts away,
the whole sun blazing there
in its delicate 
quivering wings,

libellule, I remember,
I wish I could love myself
as easily as I love you.