I smile, now, thinking: we all like to think we are important enough to need psychiatrists

I wanted change and excitement and to shoot off in all directions myself, like the colored arrows from a Fourth of July rocket.

I do not fear it: I have been there.

Even amidst fierce flames the golden lotus can be planted.

I am jealous of those who think more deeply, who write better, who draw better, who ski better, who look better, who live better, who love better than I.

She looks like a woman who has found it ridiculous to commit herself to a single emotional stance in anything, but must always ride high heavy irony.

And I am aware of my heart: it opens and closes Its bowl of red blooms out of sheer love of me.