unable
to will himself young
again
yet he imagined
his reflection
in those laughing eyes
as her contemporary
language was
no impediment to this conversation
with eyes telling where words were too timid to go
as heartbeats, palpitations
of emotion, of discovery
crossed continents like crossing a street
but once he saw
his own warped reflection
in the curve of a wineglass
like a laughable distortion
in a carnival mirror
the razor-sharp teeth of reality
stripped this dream to the bone
Barry DeCarli
October 4, 2014
On Swiss Air Flight #052
Zurich to Boston
©2014 Barry DeCarli
