"the nightmare..." - roberto bolano

"The nightmare begins over there, right there..."
by Roberto Bolano

The nightmare begins over there, right there.

Further, up, down, everything's part of the 

nightmare. Don't stick your hand in that urn. Don't

stick your hand in that hellish vase. That's 

where the nightmare begins and everything you do there

will grow like a hump on your back.

Stay away, don't hang around that equivocal point.

Even if you see the flowering lips of your true

love, even if you see some flowering eyelids

you wanted to forget or get back. Stay away.

Don't run circles around that mistake. Don't

lift a finger. Trust me. The only thing that grows there

is the nightmare.