"The Small Box"

The small box gets its first teeth
And its small length
Its small width and small emptiness
And all that it has got

The small box is growing bigger
And now the cupboard is in it
That it was in before

And it grows bigger and bigger and bigger
And now has in it the room
And the house and the town and the land
And the world it was in before

The small box remembers its childhood
And by overgreat longing
It becomes a small box again

Now in the small box
Is the whole world quite tiny
You can easily put it in a pocket
Easily steal it easily lose it

Take care of the small box


Vasko Popa (1922 - 1991)



A small box can hold very big memories.  I bought this silk-covered and bejewelled box, measuring just 2 inches cubed, from a shop full of curios in Sirmione on the shores of Lake Garda in Italy.