“Is it better to speak or to die?” 

Certainly, it is better to speak

But, well, how much time do I have?

If we could sit in silence for just a little while longer,

Perhaps then I would find the right words…

I want to tell you something wonderful

I want to compose a crystal castle

I want to arrange the stars

I want to take you by the hand and lead you

into the forest at night

and dance together in the fairy ring

I need to do something about the moon

Maybe fly to it like Frank Sinatra

Or lasso it like George Bailey

Write songs about it, name a river after it…

Float down that glinting river and out to sea

And feel the salt water on my face (and be rocked by great waves,

as the ocean itself is rocked by that moon, which I still need to do something about)

And sail the seven seas and return to tell you tales 

of mermaids and leviathans 

and the lost city of Atlantis,

which I have found, just to tell you about. 

If you could just be patient,

I could take a couple years to hide in the mountains 

and write some great novel

and miss you terribly. 

As it is, the roads are closed to Hearst Castle

The fairies are frozen in their dance

The stars are veiled in smoke

And I have not yet learned to sail

so I have been busy building wings. 

Come into my workshop and see.

These are more sturdy. 

I have been studying maps and charts, there on the wall.

Look, I think if we could make it to the moon, 

from there we would have a good view of the stars

We would float naturally in the planetary dance

We could bring my Holst record and a bottle of champagne and your picnic blanket

and the fairies in the forest below would go green with envy.

But I would not stop there. 

See, I think from the moon we could reach the sun easily. 

There is a door around the back, I’ll show you. 

Once we get there, we can walk right in. 

And there, inside of the sun, with you, turning to gold,

I shall speak at last.

Jade Oates is the editor-in-chief of The Mandarin.