Let us not abide
Only in another's truth -
Have we not lived
And loved
And longed for confirmation
And, yes, for vindication, too?
Are we, then less than they,
Or more obtuse
Because they wrote
It down
And we did not -
But rather kept ourselves
Apart
With such intimacy of soul
Hidden in the heart?

Long enough
We have lived
To judge poets
And best sellers
Of fiction
Touted phenomena
And ideas.
Let us now speak -
At least to each other
Before eternal silence
Seals our lips
And darkness
Close the sight
Of the paltry
Dim
Of eyes
Of flesh.

Dated 9/16/1982