A Day in a Life

I just visited a poetry class at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki. The students there had just come up with individual images using William Carlos Williams as a model. I put their images together in the poem below, which they then read for me.  Efharisto poli.

     A Day in a Life

So much depends upon
a street lamp at dawn
and a full moon
waiting for the sun
to rise –
and the bright yellow
sun shining on
a green and orange
bed, cutting through
the rain clouds.

So much depends upon
a hot cup of coffee,
chocolate cake,
crispy cookies,
melting caramel,
and strawberries,
strawberries,
strawberries
by a fireplace.

So much depends upon
children playing
in a schoolyard
or in the summer’s
heat on a
golden beach,
a bird’s white
wings reflected
on the ocean’s
blue waves
where divers defy
buoyancy and descend
to the untrodden
seabed.

So much depends upon
a wide open window
spreading the sound
of rain
and the hum
of freedom
to a dark and empty
room,
the strumming
of strings and
a new pair of shoes
by the bed or under
the Christmas tree.

So much depends upon
a hug at sunset
as the mist blurs
the celestial dark,
upon two hands
intertwined
two pairs of lips
kissing with eyes
closed or upon
friends on a couch,
talking and teasing.

So much depends upon
a black and white steed
walking with elegance,
a ballerina’s curtsey,
the warmth of the water
washing away the remains
of a stressful day.

So much depends upon
a rounded white candle
smoldering through
the night and a voice
calming your demons
while the midnight wolf
never forgets
he is free.