Franz Kafka, Vienna 1924

After Kafka
had corrected
"A Hunger Artist",
but before Dora rushed out
to look for the flowers
she wanted him
to feel the scent of
before it was too late,
he scribbled
on a piece of paper that he
"had felt such a desperate
need for water, to feel
gigantic mouthfuls of water"
stream past his ruined
larynx,
knowing full well that
the dying don't drink water
"but that only
certain flowers
drink as they die,
not to mention lilacs,
that continue
to drink
afterwards as well".

Translation: May-Brit Akerholt