Twenty Questions

Credit: Gerd Altmann @ Pixabay

Why did the moth fly into the flame? Was it for the same reason 

That Achilles died young? Who gets more fun out of sex,

The man or the woman? (Be sure to explain how you can tell.)

Which is more real to you, heaven or hell?

Why do sinners’ ways prosper? What causes the death of love—

The love of death? Did Adam and Eve have a choice?

Did the Virgin Mary? What are we afraid of, anyway?

Even agnostics have the right to say “thank god,” don’t they?

Looking at these dancing atoms, shall I say I saw a ring

Of pure and endless light? Or did I dream the whole thing?

Whom shall I say is calling? Are you in if it’s your wife?

Are you willing to relocate? Do you like your life?

What makes this night different from all other nights?

Would you say it’s your fate to be always,

Without exception, five minutes late? If you arrived

At 9:10, would the ceremony have started at 9:05

Though it had been scheduled for 9:15? As you walk down

The aisle, and the others rivet their attention to you,

Do you ask yourself what you’re going to do,

As though it mattered, as if you knew?

~ David Lehman 

January 1

Photo credit: chilombiano from morguefile.com

Some people confuse inspiration with lightning

not me I know it comes from the lungs and air

you breathe it in you breathe it out it circulates

it's the breath of my being the wind across the face

of the waters yes but it's also something that comes

at my command like a turkey club sandwich

with a cup of split pea soup or like tones

from Benny Goodman's clarinet my clarinet

the language that never fails to respond

some people think you need to be pure of heart

not true it comes to the pure and impure alike

the patient and impatient the lovers the onanists

and the virgins you just need to be able to listen

and talk at the same time and you'll hear it like

the long-delayed revelation at the end of the novel

which turns out to be something simple a traumatic

moment that fascinated us more when it was only

a fragment an old song a strange noise a mistake

of hearing a phone that wouldn't stop ringing

~ David Lehman

____________________________________________

Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past. 

~ Henry Ward Beecher

January 1

Photo credit: chilombiano from morguefile.com

Some people confuse inspiration with lightning

not me I know it comes from the lungs and air

you breathe it in you breathe it out it circulates

it's the breath of my being the wind across the face

of the waters yes but it's also something that comes

at my command like a turkey club sandwich

with a cup of split pea soup or like tones

from Benny Goodman's clarinet my clarinet

the language that never fails to respond

some people think you need to be pure of heart

not true it comes to the pure and impure alike

the patient and impatient the lovers the onanists

and the virgins you just need to be able to listen

and talk at the same time and you'll hear it like

the long-delayed revelation at the end of the novel

which turns out to be something simple a traumatic

moment that fascinated us more when it was only

a fragment an old song a strange noise a mistake

of hearing a phone that wouldn't stop ringing

~ David Lehman

____________________________________________

Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past. 

~ Henry Ward Beecher

When a Woman Loves a Man

Source: Favim

When she says margarita she means daiquiri.

When she says quixotic she means mercurial.

And when she says, "I'll never speak to you again,"

she means, "Put your arms around me from behind

as I stand disconsolate at the window."

He's supposed to know that.

When a man loves a woman he is in New York and she is in Virginia

or he is in Boston, writing, and she is in New York, reading,

or she is wearing a sweater and sunglasses in Balboa Park and he

is raking leaves in Ithaca

or he is driving to East Hampton and she is standing disconsolate

at the window overlooking the bay

where a regatta of many-colored sails is going on

while he is stuck in traffic on the Long Island Expressway.

When a woman loves a man it is one ten in the morning

she is asleep he is watching the ball scores and eating pretzels

drinking lemonade

and two hours later he wakes up and staggers into bed

where she remains asleep and very warm.

When she says tomorrow she means in three or four weeks.

When she says, "We're talking about me now,"

he stops talking. Her best friend comes over and says,

"Did somebody die?"

When a woman loves a man, they have gone

to swim naked in the stream

on a glorious July day

with the sound of the waterfall like a chuckle

of water rushing over smooth rocks,

and there is nothing alien in the universe.

Ripe apples fall about them.

What else can they do but eat?

When he says, "Ours is a transitional era,"

"that's very original of you," she replies,

dry as the martini he is sipping.

They fight all the time

It's fun

What do I owe you?

Let's start with an apology

Ok, I'm sorry, you dickhead.

A sign is held up saying "Laughter."

It's a silent picture.

"I've been fucked without a kiss," she says,

"and you can quote me on that,"

which sounds great in an English accent.

One year they broke up seven times and threatened to do it

another nine times.

When a woman loves a man, she wants him to meet her at the

airport in a foreign country with a jeep.

When a man loves a woman he's there. He doesn't complain that

she's two hours late

and there's nothing in the refrigerator.

When a woman loves a man, she wants to stay awake.

She's like a child crying

at nightfall because she didn't want the day to end.

When a man loves a woman, he watches her sleep, thinking:

as midnight to the moon is sleep to the beloved.

A thousand fireflies wink at him.

The frogs sound like the string section

of the orchestra warming up.

The stars dangle down like earrings the shape of grapes.

~ David Lehman

______________________________________________

When you're in love you never really know whether your elation comes from the qualities of the one you love, or if it attributes them to her; whether the light which surrounds her like a halo comes from you, from her, or from the meeting of your sparks. 

 ~ Natalie Clifford Barney

When a Woman Loves a Man

Source: Favim

When she says margarita she means daiquiri.

When she says quixotic she means mercurial.

And when she says, "I'll never speak to you again,"

she means, "Put your arms around me from behind

as I stand disconsolate at the window."

He's supposed to know that.

When a man loves a woman he is in New York and she is in Virginia

or he is in Boston, writing, and she is in New York, reading,

or she is wearing a sweater and sunglasses in Balboa Park and he

is raking leaves in Ithaca

or he is driving to East Hampton and she is standing disconsolate

at the window overlooking the bay

where a regatta of many-colored sails is going on

while he is stuck in traffic on the Long Island Expressway.

When a woman loves a man it is one ten in the morning

she is asleep he is watching the ball scores and eating pretzels

drinking lemonade

and two hours later he wakes up and staggers into bed

where she remains asleep and very warm.

When she says tomorrow she means in three or four weeks.

When she says, "We're talking about me now,"

he stops talking. Her best friend comes over and says,

"Did somebody die?"

When a woman loves a man, they have gone

to swim naked in the stream

on a glorious July day

with the sound of the waterfall like a chuckle

of water rushing over smooth rocks,

and there is nothing alien in the universe.

Ripe apples fall about them.

What else can they do but eat?

When he says, "Ours is a transitional era,"

"that's very original of you," she replies,

dry as the martini he is sipping.

They fight all the time

It's fun

What do I owe you?

Let's start with an apology

Ok, I'm sorry, you dickhead.

A sign is held up saying "Laughter."

It's a silent picture.

"I've been fucked without a kiss," she says,

"and you can quote me on that,"

which sounds great in an English accent.

One year they broke up seven times and threatened to do it

another nine times.

When a woman loves a man, she wants him to meet her at the

airport in a foreign country with a jeep.

When a man loves a woman he's there. He doesn't complain that

she's two hours late

and there's nothing in the refrigerator.

When a woman loves a man, she wants to stay awake.

She's like a child crying

at nightfall because she didn't want the day to end.

When a man loves a woman, he watches her sleep, thinking:

as midnight to the moon is sleep to the beloved.

A thousand fireflies wink at him.

The frogs sound like the string section

of the orchestra warming up.

The stars dangle down like earrings the shape of grapes.

~ David Lehman

______________________________________________

When you're in love you never really know whether your elation comes from the qualities of the one you love, or if it attributes them to her; whether the light which surrounds her like a halo comes from you, from her, or from the meeting of your sparks. 

 ~ Natalie Clifford Barney