This Gourd Floats

What if you had no one
To talk to who had need
Of the ways that you spoke?

What a gift that would be,
Like King Wei’s great gourd seed—
Of no use, once full grown,

To eat, too large to haul
From the well and too large
To cut for a huge spoon,

But just right, once scooped out,
To make a boat and float
Lakes whose waves have no ears.