<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Poem read on Tuesday<div class=""><br class=""><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;" class=""> An Explosion of
Light</span><span class="" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:10pt;font-family:"Tms Rmn","serif""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><span class=""> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:10pt;font-family:"Tms Rmn","serif""><font color="#000000" class=""><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;" class="">He remembers an
explosion, was it in Brugge or Brussels?</span><span class="" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></font></p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">Which museum was he
visiting at the time <span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class=""><span class=""> </span>––there were so many!<span class="">
</span><span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">Perhaps it happened
while quietly envisioning a Flemish painting.<span class="">
</span><span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">The borrowed light from
ages ago still burned on that day <span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">as if coming from a star
long extinct.<span class=""> </span><span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">It triggered something
inside him, opened a door <span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">and he was invited to
step in.<span class=""></span></font></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:10pt;font-family:"Tms Rmn","serif""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><span class=""><font color="#000000" class=""> </font></span></span></p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">He stood in the middle
of a gilded square, in bright light, <span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">watching water washing
over the cobblestones.<span class=""> </span><span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">The cymbals of sun swirling
in the gutter stunned him;<span class=""> </span><span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">he was struck with a
pointillistic vision.<span class=""> </span><span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">Did he lose something,
did he gain?<span class=""> </span><span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">All he knew was that for
an instant the world fell silent <span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">and some incandescence
made its way inside of him. <span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">It hasn't left him
since.<span class=""></span></font></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:10pt;font-family:"Tms Rmn","serif""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><span class=""><font color="#000000" class=""> </font></span></span></p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">It happened in the midst
of an otherwise ordinary scene.<span class=""> </span><span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">An crystalline sphere
broke through his ribcage from within,<span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">shot up like a rocket
and disappeared into the atmosphere.<span class=""> </span><span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">He felt a lightness he
had never known before <span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">as if a dark and dense
being had left him.<span class=""> </span><span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">All at once he had no
limits.<span class=""> </span><span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">"It was like I had
shed my humanskin," he told his friends later,<span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">"and transmuted
into this all-encompassing being."<span class=""></span></font></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:10pt;font-family:"Tms Rmn","serif""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><span class=""><font color="#000000" class=""> </font></span></span></p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">He could look inside as
if he were made of glass.<span class=""> </span><span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">Something had been
dislodged there, chased out forever.<span class=""> </span><span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">He called it guilt <span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class=""><span class=""> </span>––such is the human language <span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">and he saw that someone
had taken up lodging <span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">in the empty space, <span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class=""><span class=""> </span>a woman.<span class=""> </span><span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">He called her love.<span class=""> </span><span class=""></span></font></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:10pt;font-family:"Tms Rmn","serif""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><span class=""><font color="#000000" class=""> </font></span></span></p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">He has never been alone
since.<span class=""> </span><span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">When he meets
loneliness, <span class=""></span></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">he calls it truth.<span class=""></span></font></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:10pt;font-family:"Tms Rmn","serif""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><span class=""><font color="#000000" class=""> </font></span></span></p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tms Rmn", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">He remembers an
explosion.<span class=""> </span>Was it in Brugge or
Brussels?..<span class=""></span></font></span></div>
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