The light of the world

what does
poetry mean to you?
a friend asks.
what does breathing
mean to you?
I say.
and I continue
to sing of beauty
and of love and
of sweetness
you have not tasted yet ----
in the morning and
in the afternoon too
and before midnight
and a week from now - -
until you fully
remember yourself,
my dear friend,
as the light
of the world.