The New Song
Last year:
Mom: Tin go outside and play in the back yard.
Tin: No. There’s no one out there to play with.
Last month:
Mom: Go outside and jump on the trampoline.
Tin: Can you come with me?
Last week:
Tin: Mom, can I go outside with Stella and play?
Mom: Yes!
The New Song
For some time I thought there was time
and that there would always be time
for what I had a mind to do
and what I could imagine
going back to and finding it
as I had found it the first time
but by this time I do not know
what I thought when I thought back thenthere is no time yet it grows less
there is the sound of rain at night
arriving unknown in the leaves
once without before or after
then I hear the thrush waking
at daybreak singing the new songW. S. MERWIN
The Moon Before Morning
Copper Canyon Press