THE MOSAIC OF MY LIFE
LOVE
The mosaic of my life is held together
by the power of undivided tenderness.
Since almost everyone is serving maximum time,
I prefer walking on the purity of air—remembering
the blissful surprise—the way warm lips and tongue
silenced my mouth. I was hypnotized by the aliveness
of this young married woman, who I fell fully in love with—
her only half in love with me—until she became my wife.
WORK
I embroidered my days with hard work
using all my divination tools to help
fill the holes in the souls of the living dead.
My goal was to make their lives a work of art.
I used naked models to awaken the moribund,
tuning the pianos of discordant players,
who were ready to jump off the nearest building.
My clientele learned to smile like bodies risen from the dead.
I remember the fallen angels—like memorable friends
who listened with me to music in a minor key
in the last September we spent together.