The green glass vase will break
in transit
so smash it now;
either you will try
to carry your memento, and it will crack,
or you will refuse to leave it behind
and never travel.
broken is the only way to carry
the vase,
each piece a doll’s house saucer
of light,
each a palm open
to the room where you pack to leave.
Beat the light into crystals
so that you are free to move –
and when you travel,
fold them in a cloth.
At your destination,
don’t try to reassemble
the vase;
its old form has gone –
but in the workshop at the lough-side
tip out the crushed pieces
and fuse them into something new.