this place.
this is where I am growing. this is where I can sing.
this is where I try. where I lose
this place. not the table. not
the chair. not even
this house.

those people.
this is what they trust. this is where they are waiting.
these are the windows from which they keep watch over me
day after day.
a recognizable coat. a familiar walk.
this is the door I knock at every day.

this place.
deprives me utterly
of all the other places open to me
in the world.

Translated by Donald Pirie