So I was writing all these long poems, diatribes,
went on and on and on.
Now, I wanted to write short poems, but I would start
and these pages would fall out of me,
not easily, but nevertheless.
And then, recently, I started writing these very short poems
that I'd like to share some with you.
I'm calling them "lumens," which is
what you see in the light bulbs when you buy them.
So many lumens, measures of light.
And they're preceded by a quote from John Cage.
He says, "There are no secrets.
It's just, we thought that they said dead
when they said bread."
[LAUGHTER]
"Décolletage.
You say it's lime, but I say smoke quartz
was squeezed for your perfume."
"Tattoo.
A child is a lonely thing to put in prison without a lover,
lonely in its parent's care."
"After Yes.
To build the chair.
To sit.
Witness the mystery, world."
"The Dream in which I Open a Window.
A marriage happened in this place.
I was alone, so quiet."
"Nirvana Stair.
I come from small seas littered with playful islands.
Feel how my heart is shaped by that sheltering."
"The Argument.
Just the 'I've seen it all before,' not the familiar
feeling."
"Privacy.
Finally, the only one I want to caress is you.
You watch the changing light across the sky.
I watch your eyes."
"Oh, Lord.
I love when you take over her eyes
and pierce me with your sky."
"Primitive.
The heart leaps.
The heart opens.
The heart closes.
The heart grieves.
It blames.
It sinks into your hand.
It heals."
Thank you.
This is the first time I've spoken them above a whisper.
[LAUGHTER]
[SIGH]
[APPLAUSE]