There's the One

Poem you want to read,

     Story you need to hear,
Truth that's actually you,

Actually true, happiness
     And contentment and,
Well, you know the magic.

That's the one. Afternoon,
     And a low sun finds
The slats in wooden window blinds.

Thibaudet plays Satie.
     In the classroom next door,
A murmur of collective laughter

Hums through the cinder-block wall.
     A note on the desk wishes
Everyone well in a good hand.

A screen on the knees shows
     Such precise images of Mars
And a cuneiform tablet, red

And rosy, as if five thousand
     Earth years met and married
Five billion or so fading

Into a sweet, dry sterility.
     Oh, life where is thy sting?
More chuckling love through the walls.