If I could
I would write it
In bright red paint
On the tallest shining building
In the middle of Houston,
that building we saw
when we were riding the train . . .

I would paint it in red
For you to see
I would take you there
Every single day
So you would know
And so everyone would know

People walking on the street
Would see it
and would see us
And would know
That the words were mine,
And that they were for you.
I would be brave
And look straight back at them
While they looked their judgement
at me -

I would do this for you
If I could.

Every day
We would go and look
And come back home.
We will have feelings
That we can't explain,
We can't put in an envelope
and send away,
We will not be able to
gobble up and forget -
Because we both saw
The huge red letters
On the sides of the building,
Shining the gigantic city
Right into our faces.

At home,
Speaking low,
Remembering the letters -
what they said -
It will be
Iron on string
In the middle of our stomachs
For many, many days.

After awhile
We will just stop going back
Because the letters will fade
The rain and the wind and the sun
Will take them away
Perhaps there will even be a day -
Long from now
When we go back into that city,
That we will ride the train
Right by that mirror building -
And the letters will be gone.

Perhaps you won't even notice the building
Glittering to the right
As the train glides past . . .
You will smile straight ahead,
But I will shut my eyes
So tight . . .

And in a very long time
The building will be too old
So they will tear it down,
Something better will take its place . . .

Then, under a Christmas tree,
years and years from now,
All in our circle,
Shining faces, colors, lights, paper,
We will remember
trips to the beach
nights we played games
watched movies, slept in the living room
with popcorn scattered to pick up in the morning
And one will say -

"Didn't you paint something in red
A very long time ago . . .
I just hardly remember."

I hope so.