Following The Recipe Of Ancient Greco-Syrian Magicians

Said an aesthete: ‘What distillation from magic herbs
can I find – what distillation, following the recipe
of ancient Greco-Syrian magicians – that will bring back to me
for one day (if its power doesn’t last longer),
or even for a few hours,
my twenty-third year,
bring back to me my friend of twenty-two,
his beauty, his love.

What distillation, following the recipe
of ancient Greco-Syrian magicians, can be found
to bring back -as part of this return to the past-
the little room we shared.’