Hazard and Prospect

How we are taken
Lines written while thinking of my recently
deceased parents and what they are missing
How deeply we are taken by the world
and all its glories—how it draws us in,
until we are surrounded by the pearled
light of late day, the cool transparent rosin
of a clear sky across which the virtuoso
sun (this image reminds me of my father)
has swiftly drawn its fine Italian bow,
espressivo. And breathe—and smell—the rather
romantic, yet classical air. And feel it too—
this world’s beauty present to all our senses,
surprising them, like guests who jump out at you
from behind chairs and couches, or like sentences
that draw you in and take you where you never
expected to go and wish you could live forever.