Imaginary Paintings

1. How I Would Paint the Future

A strip of horizon and a figure, 
seen from the back, forever approaching.

2. How I Would Paint Happiness

Something sudden, a windfall, 
a meteor shower. No—
a flowering tree releasing 
all its blossoms at once, 
and the one standing beneath it 
unexpectedly robed in bloom, 
transformed into a stranger 
too beautiful to touch.

3. How I Would Paint Death

White on white or black on black. 
No ground, no figure. An immense canvas, 
which I will never finish.

4. How I Would Paint Love

I would not paint love.

5. How I Would Paint the Leap of Faith

A black cat jumping up three feet 
to reach a three-inch shelf.