80spoems/improvisation

IMPROVISATION

If I could sing your face into being,
it would shock you to know how loudly
I could chirp. From the highest
branch in the garden, flitting
from palm to oak.

Beginning softly, the composition would
complexify, expressing all that is inspired
by your eyes, holding some low note
to shape your cheeks.

Surely, improvisation would be required
to provoke your candle-lit silhouette
across the room.

I would sing until my vocal chords
locked in place, refusing silence
until you came to me.

10/23/86
La Jolla Shores