... a celebration of conviviality

If you want my apartment,

sleep in it

but let's have a clear

understanding:

the books are still free

agents.

If the rocking chair's arms

surround you

they can also let you go,

they can shape the air like a

body.

I don't want your rent, I want

a radiance of attention

like the candle's flame when we

eat,

I mean a kind of awe

attending the spaces between us—

Not a roof but a field of stars.

... Jane Cooper (1924-2007), American poet