Say the brokers: buy shares now.
Dance the orange: ask Rilke how.
The girls undress when no one looks.
The boys keep their noses in books.
The joker puts a color in every line,
Adds an ice cube to a glass of white wine.
To you I say good morning,
But the red sky is a warning.
The sea says no, not yet.
And you wonder what kind of pet you should get.
Open the orange and watch its perfume
Like molecules of dust in your sunny room.
You say you may have to eject.
I say OK, I will not reject.
About the AuthorDavid Lehman's books of poetry include The Daily Mirror (2000), The Evening Sun (2002), and When a Woman Loves a Man (forthcoming in 2005), all from Scribner.
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