I’d Like to Buy a Vowel

I see you walking past and I lean over the line,
my chin resting in one hand with the help of a supportive “F” and my other elbow
propped up on a ‘N.’

“Psst!“
I emphatically wave you over and lift up the
line hanging above my head and
move a neighboring ‘R’ over with my bare foot.
Surreal, maybe.
On brand, absolutely.

“Come on in!”
I grab your hands and pull you up on the
‘E’ and you look at me
and I whisper
“this is my favorite place.”
I’m pretty sure you don’t believe what you’re seeing but I reassure you,
“it’s real.”

I shimmy up a ‘D.’
“I’ve always wanted to hang off a crescent, ya know?”
You crawl up and settle into the cradle below me
and I dangle over
with one extended arm and my chin on my other, continuing:

“So, reading is an Art, yeah?
Symbols to process,
actively pulling at words,
applying context, and memory recollection—it’s really a fascinating skill.

I’ve always enjoyed reading for things beyond knowledge.
I mean, don’t get me wrong,
I like accurate observations and postulations
but what I really love
in a good piece of writing is when it
enlightens.”

I continue on:
“It’s breathtakingly beautiful, really,
that enlightenment intrinsically changes you
and your relationship to the matter
at hand.”

I slide down the slope of the ‘D.’
“Good writing and reading don’t just
tell you why,
it leaves you believing the why.
Any good writer hopes you learn
as much about yourself as you do
the subject at hand.”

You break your silence,
softly wide-eyed, you make the observation that
what we’re talking about belongs to the realm of
savoring,
revisiting, and
constructing
an ongoing shared meaning
and understanding.

I smile and slow my cadence and add—
“intentional savoring.”

Cadence is also a
beautiful trait
in writing and
I
shift gears:

“Goodness, there are so many consonants in here!
Anyway, what did that wonderful old man say?
‘Buy the ticket, take the ride?’

You make an astute observation:
“it seems that u need to
buy a vowel.”