WinterWednesday, January 14, 2026
24 Dey 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."”
Omar Khayyamtr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859
Reflection · Winter 1404
In winter the earthen urn is cold and the lean to its lip is a different act — the deliberate winter lean, the act of someone who wants to hear the murmur even in the cold. While you live. Drink. Once dead, you never shall return. In winter this murmur is most necessary. The living condition is most tested in winter — the cold, the dark, the year's end pressing in from all sides.
The poor earthen urn has been saying this all year. It will say it next year. Lean in. Hear it. Drink.