....original photography except where noted....


Tuesday, April 26, 2016

starlight and capes (revis'd)



once
a white-haired man
told me:

imagine—
            any time of day,
starlight showers down
over us—
like invisible
love….

because you know,
(he continued)
even though sunlight
outshines the stars by day—
still they twinkle on
in disguise
and behind….

oh what a precious non-secret
to carry around next to my heart!


some mornings
i swing despair on
like a cape,
or a robe….

sometimes it is the tablecloth i sit down to….

sometimes
i resolve
to hang it back
in the closet
with the old clothes—

(the ones
i really need
to give away….)

and i take out hope,
shake the dust out of its folds,
and try it on—

so awkward, right now:
neither one fits!


so

i take them both off,
and they lie in small heaps
 on the floor….

i stare at them,
mystified….

how do you live without one
or the other?


yesterday
in the blazing heat,
a (wise) young man said:

true peace happens
when you give up
both hope
and despair….


tonight
i walk out into the quiet
warm air—

the fireworks
have blown themselves out….

the revelers
have gone indoors….

the words of the old man
and the young
ribbon through my memory….

and up on the hillside,
out from under the trees—
i hold my skirt with both hands
like a basin

for catching stars….

_____________________
©2016

beth anne boardman