I just thought you should know
that you make an appearance
in every one of my minutes
not quite my seconds
often those are occupied
by more immediate threats
hunger pain deer in the road
but my minutes no not a single one
has gone by without you waving from it
and I want to tell you that
I have memorized every poem
you have ever read
every joke every smile
every hair on your head
I own -- I have made my own
but it is not enough
to worship you from afar
I need to worship you
up close and personal
I need to smell you
while I worship you
I need you in my seconds
I just thought you should know II
I dreamed about you --
you got up on stage and read
a love poem you had written for me
called “I just thought you should know”
it was beautiful -- it told me I was beautiful
that you were obsessed with me
that my poetry was the music in your life
but it was only a dream
fortunately morning did not erase your poem
so I wrote it down -- a love poem to myself
from the complicated depths of my subconscious
fantasies
I sent it to a reputable journal who not
only published it
they sent me a letter of praise and a small
honorarium
and a complimentary lifetime subscription
I thought I had peaked so you can imagine
my surprise when
our poem was chosen for inclusion in The
Best American Poetry
and I got to write a blurb about our poem’s
evolution
I didn’t mention of course that you wrote
it
if I’d done that I never would have been
nominated for the Pulitzer
so I just thought you should know how far
your poem has taken me
I just thought I should say thanks