The American and the Armenian

The American and the Armenian
for Tati

She sits in a café

reading the poems of an American.
Her eyes steal the surrounding sunlight,
illuminate his rising words.

He sits at his desk

reading an email from the Armenian.
He is touched. Flattered. A bit sad
he cannot visit the café.

And although an ocean stands between them,

they do not feel so apart when using words.
They do not feel so alone:
For their hearts know the same achings of love.
Their tears flood the same fields of war.
Their pens write of better days to come.

In a world of several billion people,

on a planet spinning in & out of control,
the man and woman have come together
peacefully, through distance and words.

It was Sagan who wrote: Earth, from a distant point,

is a pale blue dot. A mote of dust in a sunbeam.
This, the man and woman have seen in their dreams.

And although they will never walk Rome together,

or share a view from the Smoky Mountains,
he is with her in the café,
she is beside him in his home,

For no one is truly separate

when you look at the world
from great heights.

(From the book Wilderness & Love)