(jann c castor, october 17th, 1988


  MY UNIVERSE

  I only live five minutes a day
when I write my poems.

the rest is just an interlude
intermission
hiatus

shirring experiences and insights
before the haverst betides
is my journey from one moment to another
 
How tiresome it can become!

and sometimes, between one sentence and another
there is one hundred years of solitude


or, if I am lucky
a minute of passion that bursts and then
scuttles away.

 Oh,  women of my confessions!

  I owe it all to you.

  I take a kiss and give a methapore away
clasping in the arms

with the Universe.


  Look! I dressed you with another star!

  My grace and piety to you for your allowance!

  Don't ever stop your benevolence or I die!

  No prayers
no begging
 
I want it all!
 

I am a thief
 
stealing a thought
and giving a thousandfold back.
 

like my childhood heroes
Robin Hood and Zorro
or Wilhelm Tell.


  I will rob you if you come my way
and kiss you again

  Oh, my Universe.
Be where you are.
Go where you need to go.

Stay if this is your desire.
 

Oh, my Universe.

copyright  Jann C. Castor © 1998,WGA