Palavras lidas #391

Helium
by Billy Collins

                    "The morning is expected to be cool and foggy."
                    --Wislawa Szymborska
                    "The Day After - Without Us"

Imagining what the weather will be like
on the day following your death
has a place on that list of things

that distinguish us from animals
as if walking around on two legs
laughing to ourselves were not enough to close the case.

In these forecasts, it's usually raining,
the way it would be in the movies,

but it could be sparkling clear
or grey and still with snow expected in the afternoon.

Much will continue to occur after I die
seems to be the message here.
The rose will nod its red or yellow head.
Sunbeams will break into the gloomy woods.

And that's what was on my mind
as I drove through a gauntlet of signs
on a road that passed through a small town in Ohio:

Bob's Transmissions,
The Hairport, The Beautiful Buffet,
Reggie's Bike Shop, Balloon Designs by Pauline,
and Magestic China Garden to name a few.

When I realized that all these places
could still be in business on the day after I die,
I vowed to drink more water,
to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables,
and to start going to the gym I never go to

if only to outlive
Baloon Designs by Pauline
and maybe even Pauline herself
though it would be enough if she simply
lost the business and left town for good.

The Rain in Portugal - Poems, New York: Random House, 2016, pp. 24-5