you who never told the whole story
only what came to mind
only the calling of the one note at a time
and where it will carry us together.
The house is the old house and I am here
hoping to catch sight of what has not yet been seen
knowing that this may be the only time.
There will be no one to remember us.
There is no other voice or time.
(A cento comprised entirely of last lines from W. S. Merwin's "Garden Time,"
2016, Copper Canyon Press, his last original volume, composed
while he was losing his eyesight and dictated to his wife, Paula.)
