Everything is Ready

Everything is Ready

Come, everything is ready.
Strangers smile as if they know you today.
Plants pour out their fragrance
as you pass.

Come quickly, everything is ready.
The street is cleared that you might park
parallel to your door.
Graffiti has sprung up on each dull sign,
flowering vines drawn in shades of your choosing.

Envelopes have been licked and pressed down
so you can pry the fibers apart with your finger.
The traffic lights have new bulbs,
greenest, yellowest, reddest.

Everything is ready, come now,
have a look at the asphalt that has been unrolled
to carpet the raw dirt.
Look how the buildings don’t collapse,
how well-behaved they are in your presence.

This is it, electricity exists,
and molecules harden and get cold when they slow down.
Everything is ready, your feet work
and there are beds, there are people who know your name
and will be repeating it when you are not here.
We are ready when you are.