columbus imagined
that he discovered
India, or the silk
road, or eldorado,
but he actually
flushed out
the heart.
& somewhere among
those spacious,
purple mountains
the heart was
found & started to
beat.
& it’s been
beating with tapping
feet forever
since.
it’s how things are with
beating, gyrating
hearts––
they make people
happy
whoever or where
ever those people
are.
this is the
greatest thing about
America––
Americans can
always sing their
way into the
sunshine––
so people will
forgive them just about
any mistake––
short of
utterly destroying
our world.