The Tenuous Connection of Dreams

Scene IV

I believe I will look no farther.
Once when I was little,
my mother told me that if I find a man wth a fish in his pocket,
a key
in his ear, and
a violin under his foot,
I should marry him.
She said, with a fish in his pocket I'd never be hungry,
a key in his ear, I'd always have a place to stay,
and a violin under his foot, I would always have music and love
(they go together)

Yesterday I met a man with all three attributes.
He said he also had a stone
for a heart and what did my mother say about that?

But I had an answer,
without even thinking.
"A rock is one thing you can always be sure of."

But he took the fish out of his pocket
and threw it in the ocean,
took the key from his ear and gave it away,
and without even looking,
stepped on the violin,
crushing it,
as he walked away.
"Lady," he said,
"I'm in a hurry," and I remembered
my mother had always said,
"Honey, beware of a man in a hurry.
One thing a woman needs
is time."



Diane Wakoski