If You Wish These Gifts, Hurry (Poem)

I wait for you to catch up,

And what do I do while I wait?

Read the books I’ve carried to give you,

The books I’ve read until I know every word.

Study the maps I’ve collected,

The maps I’ve marked with all the places I’ve been.

Examine the cups from which I drank tea,

The cups I’ve crackled from so many steeps.

Hasten please, though I do not mind revisiting these things.

The day ever shortens; my journey beckons;

I cannot remain here long.