i believe...

as my friend matt says, here is the best emergency poem ever written. as i course through paris, readying to leave it tomorrow for rome, i find myself incanting it quietly, continually...


another unpublished poem of elizabeth bishop

I believe:
that the steamship will support me on the water,
& that the aeroplane will conduct me over the mountain,
that perhaps I shall not die of cancer,
or in the poorhouse,
that eventually I shall see things in a better light,
that I shall continue to read and continue to write,
that I shall continue to laugh until I cry with a certain few
friends.
that love will unexpectedly appear over & over again,
that people will continue to do kind deeds that astound me.