Vanessa called
all the way from Toronto
she said that I
could count on her
if ever I was
down and out
After I put the phone down
i played the six-holed wooden flute
she gave me
on the occasion of our parting
i figured out the fingering
and I played it better
than I had ever done
Tears came out of my eyes
because of the music
and the recollection
of her extraordinary beauty
which no one could avoid
and because she said
there was a missing song
and I had been employed