How it opens
Memphis was old the way the cliffs are old, and it had been dying gracefully for a thousand years.
He had governed the province for the emperor, and then quarreled with the emperor's men, and died in exile.
NeforisThe barley is up again, the roof menders want the moon, and your father's pension is a rumor.
Choose
Read the water stairs first. In Memphis the river is the ledger, and the ledger is low.
Open the shutters of the closed rooms and let the light work one hour a day, since dust also mourns.
Count the household by name, every morning, because eight faithful people are a fortune wearing aprons.