always shorter than you thought

"On...
May 1st, 1990...
something changed inside me...
and I....
saw the stars align...
and I knew that it was meant to be...."
Adrian Belew, from "Here"

they always seem shorter
in person
stars and musicians
larger than life
offscreen or onstage
he was no different
at first I thought he was
the guitar technician
with silly airplane captain's hat
on balding head

then he spread his arms
in white T-shirt
Ta-Da!
it was him!
Adrian Belew
among the top-100 all-time guitarists
played for Zappa, the Talking Heads
King Crimson, and ubiquitously
on seven or eight albums

he did a Q and A
in the middle of the show
I got up my salt
and asked him
"What happened
on May 1st, 1990?"
a woman in the crowd exclaimed, "Ahhhh!"

I thought he might say
"I attained everlasting Satori,
complete enlightenment"

but no, larger
than life, he said,
"I met Martha,
my best friend, my wife,
and the loveliest woman
in the world."