When he mentions sacrifice, think a body
stripped to the waist.
When we talk trust, consider thaw,
scuffed shoes bending forward.
When you hear “common,” think black on white.
Think black without.
When you discuss “if,” draw up the fire.
For vertiginous space, visualize communal passage.
Open a tin of memory.
When you shiver, you enter the radical center
– or tangible timidity.
When you see hands, think natural order
lingering just above the ground.
When you hear a perfect recitation of Beethoven’s 5th
or stand in the storm of Twombly’s scribbles,
when you are lost in Breughel’s watery green
or Twain’s drawl,
stop the suffering and ask for exactly what you want.
Pretend your pupils are the reciprocal compass of sight.
Crouch into the smear of a tulip, the tragic palette of time.
When you think minimum output, desire the window.
Count falcons, focus, release.
"When" was published in The Dailiness (Edwin E. Smith Publishing, 2013) and is republished here with the kind permission of the author.
The ALL Review is pleased to present our How to Live series, poems chosen to help readers navigate these difficult and rapidly changing times.
