The Visit

When I looked up from the blank page in front of me

there was an angel in the room.
A rather ordinary angel -
presumably from the lower échelons.
You cannot imagine (he said)
how dispensable you are.
Of the fifteen thousand shades of blue,
(he said) each one makes more of a difference
than anything you may do
or not do -
not to mention uranium
and the Great Magellanic Cloud.
Even the most common lichen, unassuming
as it is, would leave a gap. Not you.
I could tell from the gleaming of his eyes -
that he was hoping for a nice long, bitter argument.
I did not move. I sat in silence
until he left.


Enzenberger