Arriving by Arriving

Arriving by arriving

At six I'll be there.
I get what's needed ready.
Let the brushes be the right ones
although... if they're not thick enough,
or if the few bristles... are splayed,
that's no reason to ruin my longing.
At six I'll be there.
The paint I ought to buy
may not be enough
to cover the whole canvas,
so I'll spread it with my fingers
and my prints will be the details.
At six I'll be there.
The ambition to see
the beautiful in my work
contemplates the minutiae.
I think that
if I wait for everything to get better
I'm going to get distracted.
At six I'll be there.
I'll walk a while on my feet

And another stretch on my fingernails
if need be
even crawling can be fun
as long as I don't give up.
The week of preparations
has its own eager bustle,
the pleasure beforehand makes me unstoppable.
At six I will be
where I want to be
despite all that can be imagined.