To graze the lifestock I move
from oasis to oasis, lugging

a huge hourglass, a tower
on wheels, and I count

grain after grain
until the time runs out, I count

down my despondency:
what shall I have achieved

as an old man? Only that I myself
am an hourglass in the desert

with grains of happiness: family
some friends and the beauty

of the starry sky, a cup
of clear water, a safe night

and sometimes the godsend
of a quail or some honey