Personals Ad: Artist Seeks World

by Maxima Kahn, USA

 Me: Sad-eyed dreamer with battered heart, eternal
 optimist given to bouts of despair, idealist
 with razor wit and tongue, lyric poet
 reinventing time and space, seeks
 world in which I can live. 
  
 You: Rose-petalled air, untrammeled fields 
 of wildflowers, skies piled with white confections 
 tinted in outlandish hues, clear blue-green 
 oceans and unpolluted streams running with fish,
 lush forests, thriving hives. A race
 of humans who actually get along—kind-
 hearted, generous and playful—led by cooperatives
 of farmers and cheese-makers, with nightly
 performances of experimental music and dance, 
 days off for picnics, widespread reverence for all of life. 
 Care of birds and animals a must, sacred protection
 of forests, mountains, waters vital. Humble
 and willing to learn. Not keen on dogma, no
 quarter for authoritarians, no time
 for nationalism, tribalism, racism,
 sexism. Must treat women and children
 as treasures, men too, all kinds. A race bent on 
 evolving into the greatness of which we are capable—
 all the while with a rollicking humor, love
 for the adventurous and gleeful, where
 compassion is Queen and artists are well-paid.