Before you write to them, write to me.
Before you write to the public, write privately
To the one who loves you: me.
Before you give to the public, give privately
To the one who loves you privately—me.
Understand the public. But love me.
And when you love the public, love me—
This is important—-even more publicly.
You may love the public privately—
Of course you will—but do not confuse that love
For love of soul and beauty and me.
The public has no soul. It is only what you see
When you think you see something. It’s not me.
The public has no privacy, except as it is a jealousy
Which thinks crude thoughts about you and me.
The public exists only as a lying excitability.
The public is a poor fiction. It’s not even a mirror. Trust me.