Letter to a 16 year old boy
For Michael

You must first understand that
the distance between the edge
and the ground is clever and swift.

You will spend months with bloodied knees.

If the first woman you fall into
is already damaged; hold her waist
as you would a lotus flower. If she doesn’t appear
broken, do not break her
for the sake of it.

When you do break her
for the sake of it—
never forget the taste
of her name in your throat.

Get into as many fistfights
as you have fingers; be humbled upon
the sacred pavement with which
you shed blood, but never be boastful.

Learn to move your lips with caution and fervor;
to balance the weight of your words
on both the calloused and the fragile.

Learn to hold a wine glass:
always by the stem. This will not
seem important until it is.

Learn enough guitar to play the blues,
and enough French to read Rimbaud.

Perfect the art of making breakfast
at any time of day.

Do not look for ties between love
and mathematics. One and one will
sometimes equal one, and sometimes
render nothing at all.

Fall asleep mouthing the words
asi nisi masa knowing no significance
but levity in dreams of dancing.