This glue is amazingly quick-setting
sets immediately on your fingers before the glue has glued
what needs to be glued namely a little wooden piece
onto a bigger wooden piece where it used to be
now one more time and faster
this glue repels water fire mold rot
temperature impact earthquakes hurricanes everything
except wood cardboard metal rubber plastic
leather glass stone bakelite masonite and fingers
push the little wooden piece in place
press for fifteen seconds
and
pull away your finger and with it the little
wooden piece that is now stuck to your finger
Now clean off the dried glue and skin pieces
from the little wooden piece and
put glue on the clean surfaces again and press
this time with a suitably shaped stick
so the wooden piece sits where it’s supposed to and
after fifteen seconds it’s stuck on crooked
this time really stuck
and after another fifteen seconds
two questions arise:
should you break the wooden piece off again
and start over
or is there something more important you could be doing?

By Benny Andersen ©1969 “Limning”
Translated by Michael Goldman
Originally published in World Literature Today, 2014