My American Friends
If it's true that old wood is better to light a fire ...
If it's true that an old horse is better to ride...
If it's true that an old book is a better read ...
If it's true that an old wine is better to drink and savor...
It's also true that it's better to have an old friend.
And if it were enough for us
Like the strings of a cello
To vibrate at the least whisper of a springtime breeze
And if it were enough for us
Like the ears of a doe sheltering in the woods
To know how to wait for and listen to silence
And if it were enough for us
Like the eyes of a child
To be amazed, dazzled just for a split second
By the improbable trajectory of a shooting star
And if it were enough for us
At each dawn, at each twilight moment
Like the wandering poet, to sit down on a stone wall
To get drunk on the smell of new-mown hay
And if it were enough for us
To know that our spirit is free
That nothing, no one can keep it captive
That the only barriers are the endlessness of hawthorn hedges
Or of eagle flights above the cliffs
And if it were enough for us
To know the happiness of getting lost, of going astray
In the middle of nowhere, in the middle of our dreams
At the outposts of the stars
Holding the hand of our children
Of our simple futures, our hopes
And if it were enough for us
To learn how to grasp what’s ephemeral
In a wink, without warning
In a simple wave of a hand
As when one must take leave
Just to pin our moments of happiness
On our lapel, on our memory
And if it were enough for us
To take life as it comes
To enjoy peaceful days
To learn how to remain naïve
Far from the shilly-shallying of a world going awry
And if it were enough for us
To know that we are simply alive
