***
I have never seen clouds
Up on the ground.
I’ve never touched les nuages
With bare-arms.
But today I did.
Feet deep in heavens
I walked among foam
Larger-than-life goddesses,
ballerinas of Dyagilev,
bubbly astronauts…
I loved how the angels
Were holding up
Lanterns
Of sun rays,
Di sotto in su –
From below to above!
No, not the Russian drama,
But elegant calm!
Papier mâché seagulls
glided gracefully under the sun,
Michelangelo’s mythic figures
From the Sistine Chapel
swept the light flakes
into my eyes…
“Manna from heaven!”, I sighed.
Manna dal cielo! –
Not something you learn by heart.
Blindfolded,
On wings of angels,
I flew to Antwerpen
To bring a desert of kisses
Into one’s origami hands…
