American Life in Poetry
It seems that love poems have a better chance of being passed around from person to person than other poems, and here’s one, by Richard M. Berlin, who lives in the Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts, that we’d like to pass along to you.
Einstein’s Happiest Moment
Einstein’s happiest moment
occurred when he realized
a falling man falling
beside a falling apple
could also be described
as an apple and a man at rest
while the world falls around them.
And my happiest moment
occurred when I realized
you were falling for me,
right down to the core, and the rest,
relatively speaking, has flown past
faster than the speed of light.
Poem copyright 2011 by Richard M. Berlin from his most recent book of poems, “Secret Wounds,” BkMk Press, 2011. Poem reprinted by permission of the author and the publisher. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation and the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.