Dear Architecture
I see you wherever I walk,
on the streets and along the beach.
Even in the small hills
Surrounding a farm
I see you in front of me.
When I leave home and when I return
When I go to the store
Or when I go to school
You are always there,
floating in front of my eyes.
Like a spirit, muted
When I was little
I never realized what you were.
I saw buildings
and liked their looks.
I liked how they fit in your scenery.
The last piece of a puzzle sliding into place
I grew older.
I found you in a dictionary,
ARCHITECTURE:
“The art of space”
Yet, I had no clue that you were always
waiting for me
Then I explored the portraits of you on the internet
With the geometric and wavy delineations
And sometimes just a simple box
I started seeking your physical essence
Your pattern language
Like a chameleon in hiding
Later in life
I immersed myself in your history
Your grand history
From the Pantheon and the Parthenon
Your timeless symbols
To the Villa Rotonda
A perfect circle inside a perfect square
I was amazed
by your beauty and your poetry.
You are the definition of beauty.
A window to the past
The Notre Dame
carries memories of old.
Of glory
You are poetry.
A metaphor of many things
The Sydney Opera House
brings us a flock of birds in flight
or a fleet of ships coming to dock.
Finally, I “tried” you for the first time,
if that’s the right word.
I drew you with my pencil
and built you with thin slices of wood.
With respect
With all my heart
Between ornament and function,
I sensed space.
The awakening of space
A physical existence of freedom
Not a flag
Not a symbol
But real and tangible
You enlarge space that seems small.
You shrink space that seems desolate.
You come through
and make space of quality.
Of life
Of spirit
Now, with my little experience,
I’m bold enough to wonder.
How you would shape me
How your windows would cast a slant light on me
How your walls would separate reality from me
How you would create a reservoir of emotion in me
How you would walk into my life
and craft my memories
Then, how would I shape you?
I’m bold enough.
I would shape you by desire, by intuition,
by experience, by recognizing how you make me feel.
Eventually,
I would build a house,
a block, a town.
And you would be the gate.
Architecture,
you have been behind me.
Unbeknownst of me
I am discovering you throughout my life.
As I look to the future,
I see you waving in the distance,
beckoning me.
I won’t hesitate to follow.
Dear Architecture
I should have found you earlier
Sincerely,
James