Poetry
Instructions for Carrying Water
A poem about care, limits, and the vessel that must survive what it carries.
R
Richard Nkwenti
1 min read
First, choose a vessel
that knows its own weight.
Do not praise the cracked bowl
for giving everything away.
Fill slowly.
Water remembers force
and will climb the rim
to escape your hurry.
Walk with both hands.
Let the road be uneven
without making it an enemy.
Rest before the arms become anger.
Drink some.
This is not theft.
The well did not ask you
to arrive empty.
When you reach the thirsty,
pour without performance.
Leave no story in which
their need made you holy.
Then wash the vessel.
Set it upside down in the sun.
Care must learn to dry
if it intends to carry again.
