Portrait with Eyes Turned Aside

I’ve seen you look into a store window

the way I look into a book

like you   I begin   with what’s inside

like you   distracted

when you find your image there

adjusting an errant strand of hair

Any word can form itself

                                         unbidden

into thought

or into a thousand pictures

any image   can be written back

into three-dimensional reality

A good window shows

what you already know

                                     encapsulates

the beauty of our self-conscious world

gives courage to change the things we can

though the wind blows   where it will