If You had a Gate

Thank you for your note. Have you seen any snakes lately or unfamiliar trails which suddenly diverge. Heard voices. Have you prayed. In what language. Have the lilies alongside the pond in the town center begun to whisper when you drive past them. Kneel and bow their heads. Do you no longer need to answer questions that begin why. Are you familiar with Transcendentalist ideals of walking. Have you danced with men who have killed black bears. What is the light like. Held hands. What are canoes, what are crosses. Is there a pickup truck parked at the top of the hill. Every hill. Is the radio mostly static but every once in a while Bach. Or no. Is there a church and who goes. Is it pretty, the church. Who is in charge. Anywhere. What is the light. What is kin. When the first leaf of autumn falls do you say out loud "now is the hour." For what do you use the mail. Any mail. If you had a gate would you paint it white. Would you swing on it. What is the sound of ten thousand coins striking a marble floor. This is what what sounds like when doves cry. Whips crack, towers fall. And still. If I could help would you let me. Would I.