--SOMETIMES THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THINGS ARE ENTIRELY ACCIDENTAL

               

I Promise

 

And the night is sometimes like this,

cloudless, barren and naked,

same as a nervous girl

disrobing for a boy the first time.

Look, even the stars are

too shy to show themselves tonight.

Somewhere an owl is watching,

pensive and patient,

but what use is that?

Or the temperamental moon,

nodding its head northward,

space a never-ending shall?

You merely want what other people have,

dreams that make no sense,

an evening without waking and

wondering why love has

abandoned you this way.

But listen, sometimes the night can

no longer keep secrets.

It needs attention, too,

someone to seem interested in it,

as fickle as anyone of us.

There will be other evenings, though,

I promise, when love will arrive

like a hot seam of wind through a closed door,

wrapping its flesh-filled arms around you,

it will caress your face and smooth your hair.

It will say you’re beautiful and be truthful.

It will answer every mystery and riddle

you’ve ever had.