the door

One day you’ll see: 

you’ve been knocking on a door 

without a house. 

You’ve been waiting, shivering, yelling 

words of daring and hope.

One day you’ll see:

there is no-one on the other side

except, as ever, the jubilant ocean

that won’t shatter ceramically like a dream

when you and I shatter.

But not yet. Now 

you wait outside, watching

the blue arches of mornings 

that will break but are now perfect.

Underneath on tip-toe 

pass the faces, speaking to you,

saying ‘you’, ‘you’, ‘you’, 

smiling, waving, arriving

in unfailing chronology.

One day you’ll doubt your movements, 

you will shudder

at the accuracy of your sudden age. 

You will ache for slow beauty 

to save you from your quick, quick life.

But not yet. Hope 

fills the yawn of time.

Blue surrounds you. Now let’s say

you see a door and knock, 

and wait for someone to hear. 

~ Kapka Kassabova

with thanks to Love is a Place