(Cloud gate/ The Bean-Chicago, U.S.A)
We don't always understand what moves above our heads
who gives clouds direction or lining made strictly of silver
not gold- Is it cheaper metal?
you can walk under a cloud without thinking of it
why now that you are surrounded in shining images of your own
steps is it that you think of the skies?
the dead hold no envy, you know it is only reserved for the living
Who told you that you can only be on the other end of a navel
only once, young and unable to talk
who said you had to be an unborn child?
it is a fact now, that you can walk and be
born once out of a vigor without thought
or need for notes to remember how to truly stand up
yet why, you wonder, is it this atonement?
make a mistake and never correct it because
you are sure it will correct itself, sealed and traded like Jack's beans
let me tell you a story: once upon a time, you were born to build
let me tell you something else: this story doesn't end happy or sad,
you keep changing the adjectives
because no one, you say, can predict the end
who wants to predict anyway?
They had told you the world had no navel
but you couldn't believe how a round belly cannot have one,
didn't this blue ball come from another mother?
don't we have a core center to where we stand
a place kissed in times of nightmares
dunked in alcohol to recover from a disaster
it is a shot to this body, tequila poured like fire in navels
imagine this trail of obsession
to origin: where we walked
barefoot in the grass, the navel of this universe
is where the dew brushes
the backs of our ankles on a crisp
windy day
this is the city of the wind, marked by a silver
reflection, hanging from its navel
a gate for the clouds to pass under a cloud
you & the cloud are made of one thing: so much water and a little bit of earth
Kapoor had a vision, when you distort an image
you create another: maybe more powerful
a feeble child breaking from a grandmother's grip without breaking her arms
this is tenderness then, the way you can curve with others
like a double sided bean yet remain awfully straight
when you stand up
that is escape, when you break another will
for your own, not selfish or foolish
for thinking about becoming, finding your own navel
This is what is seen now: skyscrapers to remind you
how tall you can stand, a bent bean to remind you that you will age
in good time and a hallowed navel in the middle
pressing on the potential children you wait to grow
like clouds with water and a little bit of earth.