the new thing in my life
first define
what it is not.
blue, purple, a star,
a dandilion. a motive.
then, realizing
the universe of nots
is too wide, begin
telling what it is.
A lover. A bit of happiness
and a cat on sun-warmed
pavement. A glowing
rock at the bottom
of a pocket. A cornfield
on an Iowa afternoon.
then define
what it will be.
A held hand.
Jasmine in the evening.
A worried face
at a deathbed.
—4/19/99