A Jar

Is this a grift? That would be
Your first thought. A wide-mouthed jar,
A hole you hold in your hands,

Does not seem like the best gift
In the best of times, and as
A hatch, a port, a way out,

All the worse. But so the man
Tells you—dive right in, you’ll find
You’re in an air new to you.

You stare. It must be a joke,
And then, sure, you don’t know why,
You stick your head in the jar

To see what you can find there.
That was years and years gone now,
Years here. That’s how you got here.