The Large Man

(for Pavarotti)


even famous people
sigh into silence and the
limitless light - large
bodies larger than life
deflate and are sloughed-off
like unwanted skin
grown into something
more beautiful that has
no use of constraint -

falling into freedom
he bends and skips, flies
and dives
in limitless sky
and his great voice is

raised by his true grand
self that sings all he is
without his lips to
form the sound

my life so small
and boned
by comparison - my
smaller sigh and easing-
off of unnecessary
skirts will come too -

and all my cares will
drop like unwanted gold
to the pavement, unknown,
unsung, by any but
my own busy mind -

how frightening it is to
know that all we hold so
dear, so true, are all
false and only bind our
lives into prisons
and small spaces

oh give me the grace
to see without fear, to
breathe-in life and not
despair, to let my
heart sing free and
unfettered, to break the

steel bands that hold
my body bound, and,
lighter, step
free of the rocks that
hold me down

fly on large man unknown
and be happy in your
new domain - where
you go
we all follow on

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