BEGINNING

Who begins to dance
in the street of umbrellas,
after years of just casually
avoiding the rain

Who begins to laugh
at the curtain unfurling,
the audience bewildered left
immersed and restrained

Who begins to walk
the path down through the valleys
where the stream meets the lowlands in
a nowhere prolonged

Who begins to breathe
the last fragrances of dawn
into lungs full of cobwebs and
ineffable songs?

2nd January