Sitting across from a friend
Downtown Gelateria
I’d just given her The Book of Mev
(Her silent, deep response I’ll never forget)
I offered to read her something
So I turned the pages and came to this …
Mev’s Ode to Joy
Even as her brain was being ravaged:
It is hard to describe the moments of joy
Even days of sheer bliss!
I feel like I’m in rapture!
Just as I have bouts of depression
I also have bouts of elation
I’ve felt this way before
As if every tree, flower, blade of grass
Is in bold relief
As a young girl I recall vividly
Walking home from Our Lady of the Pillar grade school
And seeing the trees on my lane
As if for the first time
They stood out in all their beauty, splendor
— and “treeness”
I was overwhelmed
In awe of Creation —
Marveling that I could not make a tree!
Ever since then I’ve had moments of feeling
What an honor it is to be alive and looking at this tree!
This flower! This marvelous blue sky!”
What joy! Ecstasy!
Orgasmic delight!
Downtown Gelateria
Sitting across from Emily
What an honor it is to be alive
Beholding such Emilyness!
