The sky tonight is
the full kind -orange and jovial
Are you listening ?
I wish for you to plant a fig tree in Whitman’s beard, and water it daily, trust me when I say- it will bear the sweetest fruit of all.
And when you are melancholy observe Byron as he learns to ride a bicycle – 200 years, it will take him to master it.
If Diego Velazquez approaches you
and he will – say yes – you would make a wonderful peasant girl, your gaze forever fixed on a field in Spain.
At some point I am certain, a finger will tap you on the shoulder – you will turn and see Amália Rodrigues ask her to explain in detail Saudade– This will cause her to break into song – allow her that and listen and give yourself permission to weep for the splendor of longing.
These things I say to you – I say to myself as well – put yourself out there, there in the open spaces and tightly packed spaces – in rooms with no light and rooms with so much light you cannot help but go mad –
it is never too late, never.
And if I have over stepped, and cast a shadow on all reason and decorum
-Let me hold my breath
to match the depth and hue of
your eyes, just as they were
that winter morning.