We Are Humans; We Are Not Gods

I have been reading through Jorge Louis Borges’ Selected Poems. One of the poems to which I keep returning is one of life’s refrains.

The poem is called Límites. It reminds me there is something human about boundaries because boundaries—be they natural or artificial (that is, political)—remind us of our own limits, especially the fact that we are mortal. We are humans; we are not gods.

Límites

Hay una línea de Verlaine que no volveré a recordar, 

Hay una calle próxima que está vedada a mis pasos, 

Hay un espejo que me ha visto por última vez, 

Hay una puerta que he cerrado hasta el fin del mundo

Entre los libros de mi biblioteca (estoy viéndolos)

Hay alguno que ya nunca abriré.

Este verano cumpliré cincuenta años;

La muerte me desgasta, incesante.

– de Inscripciones (Montevideo, 1923), de Julio Platero Haedo

 

Boundaries

There is a line by Verlaine that I will not remember again.

There is a street nearby that is off limits to my feet.

There is a mirror that has seen me for the last time.

There is a door I have closed until the end of the world.

Among the books in my library (I’m looking at them now) are some I will never open.

This summer I will be fifty years old.

Death is using me up, relentlessly.

-from Inscriptions (Montevideo, 1923) by Julio Platers

That reminds me that my wife and I went huckleberry picking this evening. There wasn’t enough time to harvest all the berries we could see with our eyes.

And the North Idaho sunset near our home was a beautiful reminder that there is a limit to our days, a boundary to the time we are afforded for our tasks.

Also, we learned that the government has placed a limit on the number of Huckleberries one can pick. Although the exact quantity is suspiciously left unstated in all of their regulations, if an agent deems you to be picking for commercial sales, you will be fined and your huckleberries will be confiscated.

With that, I am reminded there is a limit I placed on my word count for daily posts and I have unexpectedly exceeded the limit.