Once, she said:
The whole world
of beauty is a ladder
she can climb
whenever she wants
to talk to God.
It doesn't matter
if she believes it,
anymore, or ever
did, but I ask you:
Is it any wonder,
when the machine
tells me she called,
and will call me later,
is it any wonder, friends,
if I walk around the house
holding the cordless,
sleep with it
under my pillow
just in case
she wants a ladder
put up to my ear?
Of course you
can't know; the stars,
they look like nothing
next to her.
You tell me:
She's in your city,
and you thought
the whole state
was burning down.
-e.
