ON A THEME FROM BRECHT

Wisdom was passed on from mouth to mouth.

                                                                        —Bertolt Brecht
                                                                            New Ages

And wisdom was passed on from mouth to mouth
in soft kisses, quickly lost, like music
from her piano. Windows let notes out
last night (and it was the last night) and you ran
after them with your net. Then starry air
found its way back into your open mouth.
Your tongue brushed her wisdom as it landed
on fact. Her candle out, the smoking wick
a token of wisdom from her mouth’s lair.