Only an Observer
Janet Kuypers
7/24/16 (edited from “Seven and Seven, plus eighteen”, 2007)
I know I’m supposed to be the creative one
but I started my schooling in engineering
I say I’m a writer
I say I’m an artist
but I haven’t known what to say to you
but I want you to understand
that if I were a painter
I’d be Michelangelo
and paint my love for you
like it was the Sistine Chapel,
our hands touching in the sky,
like it was our Last Supper
what am I saying
painting like Michelangelo
I’d probably paint like Jackson Pollock
calling splashing and dripping
art
so maybe I’m not a writer
maybe I’m not an artist
maybe I’m an observer
like an astronomer
looking out into the universe
learning what makes everything
everything
because molecule by molecule,
we originate from stardust
but outer space
is a violent place
violent explosions create the stars
and our earth has earthquakes,
avalanches, volcanoes
tsunamis, typhoons
and in all this madness
somehow I’ve found you
the journalist in me observed you
I came to you asking questions
and broke your hardened shell
and with you I have walked on the tops of glaciers
crouching down from the violent winds
with you I have watched solar storms
from the Arctic Circle’s Aurora Borealis
we’ve even seen it dance over Greenland
from our window, 40,000 feet in the sky
I’ve held your hand
on the Great Wall of China
you’ve followed me retracing Darwin’s steps
you’ve steered me clear of a rattlesnake bed
you’ve shown me how to reload gun magazines
and how to hold an AR-15
‘cause I’ve seen galaxies collide
I’ve seen comets smash into planets
I’ve seen supernovae and the death of stars
and in all of that, I’ve still found you
as I said before,
I’m only an observer
but I’ve found what I’ve been looking for
and with these observations,
I thee wed
and I’ll tighten my grip on your hand
because I will never let you go
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