Seeing a woman as in a painting by Berthe Morisot

Ah tes cuisses

as in an hour-glass

(through which all flesh flows)

at the cafe table now

you are living you are breathing

your bosom stirs

so slightly so lightly

belle plante bell jar

unaware of your self

full of breath and life

not yet

awakened

I feel your breath so light

across the loud cafe

dear distant one

the time will come

or will not come

when we shall know

why we live and why we love

the time will come

or will not come when you'll awake

from your deep dream of youth

the time will come or will not come

when we shall know

why all things pass

through the hour-glass

and why we now are here

in the late morning listening to a juke-box Puccini

and looking away from each other

as if we did not know the music

as if we did not know the melody

— Larence Ferlinghetti