("Let a place be made ready for...")

YVES BONNEFOY + GALWAY KINNELL

TRUE PLACE

Let a place be made ready for the one who approaches

A person who is cold and without a home.

A person tempted by the sound of a lamp,

By the bright threshold of an isolated house.

And if he remains spent with anguish and weariness,

Let someone tell over for him the healing words.

What is needed for this heart which was but silence,

If not the words which are the sign and prayer,

As a small fire appearing suddenly at night,

Or the glimpse of the table in a poor man's house?