The People Who Love The Stories Will Go On

the people who love the stories will go on
leaving the room when it comes time for explanations,
amendations, noveau interpretations

critiques on every grid.
all they want to do is lift the lid
so the jack in the box can play

and they do so anyway
even if they are called illiterate.
how lucky they are

to follow their own star
and to read the way they want to
as if the world kept on being in picture book form.

don't raise the alarms for them
not even when they skip the lecture tours in the great museums
and head straight for the paintings

or analyze them
as to why they are doing what they are doing

they can hear the music as well as you
with your PhD or two,
even if it's Beethoven 

there's nothing you can do for them
when all is said and not done
they read because they want to

till Kingdom come.

mary angela douglas 8 march 2020