Like man took fire
and invented light, so do men
take women into glass bottles, learn
to switch their warmth on and off

Sometimes men will sit for long
periods outside a woman’s house
or her temple, not
wishing to be elsewhere, but

wishing that elsewhere wasn’t over yet
Maybe a man’s love
is also inside a glass bottle
that he hopes not to break

that he stares longingly into
on his work table, hoping one day to sail
Mostly he leads his own way with it
forgetting in such clarity

the light itself he is holding