Seeing a woman as in a painting by Berthe Morisot
Ah tes cuisses
as in an hour-glass
(through which all flesh flows)
at the cafe table now
you are living you are breathing
your bosom stirs
so slightly so lightly
belle plante bell jar
unaware of your self
full of breath and life
not yet
awakened
I feel your breath so light
across the loud cafe
dear distant one
the time will come
or will not come
when we shall know
why we live and why we love
the time will come
or will not come when you'll awake
from your deep dream of youth
the time will come or will not come
when we shall know
why all things pass
through the hour-glass
and why we now are here
in the late morning listening to a juke-box Puccini
and looking away from each other
as if we did not know the music
as if we did not know the melody
— Larence Ferlinghetti