four last things

1.

You will have time enough to sleep. So get some practice now, you always need more. Hold onto the penis tightly like The stopper on a luke-warm hot-water bottle. The other hand should be clenched like a fist over your mouth. Relax and think of the happy times You might have had. 2. In Berlin for example. Somewhere you have never been. You would surely have enjoyed it. In Berlin. Eating German food. The hearty breakfasts. You could have lived in Kantstrasse And gone to work on a tram. You could surprise people By speaking words in German as you die. 3. Or slip into Old Slavonic at the last. Ask for shchee. That’ll give them a shock. They’ll come with banners and hampers, Black headscarves, pirozhki, Through the snow, out of the forest: sledges, horses’ breath steaming in the cold air. 4. Afterwards, old men in felt-lined boots Will walk back into the woods, taking snuff, talking about billiards.

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