8 Aban 1404
Quatrain 67 of 75
“Then to the Lip of this poor earthen Urn
I lean'd, the Secret of my Life to learn:
And Lip to Lip it murmur'd—"While you live
Drink!—for, once dead, you never shall return."”
Reflection · Autumn 1404
Khayyam leans to the earthen urn's lip in autumn with a different quality of listening — not the first-time listening of spring, not the full-summer drinking, but the autumn listening that comes from knowing the message and wanting to hear it again anyway. The lip of this poor earthen urn murmurs the same thing it always murmurs. While you live. Drink. Once dead, you never shall return. In autumn this murmur is more urgent because the once dead is more present.
Lean to the lip. Let the clay speak. Drink what remains of the season.