Yesterday was the Equinox
Today a fine fresh new
Sunny day, like the first of a season
In streets that are not but that look suburban
On the ground I use my feet
To crush the little apples
That were not grown for man to eat.
A sensation returns
A quality of time of year
Recalled, and with it a query.
When first this came
As new self conscious feeling,
Was it then felt as something
Yet familiar, and if
Remarked on did it show
The same emotional
Quality as now?
When I was twenty two
Would it have brought delight
As fresh and new?
And on a bus a woman talking Spanish
Reminds of someone once I knew
Smiles and mannerisms,
And recently a hint of what a life could be.
And when it first came? No, in truth,
For then were all the hopes of youth
That go with fears
And now I know
With passing years.
The fires have burnt the fires away
And there is more to say.
And if there’s something one should know but doesn’t
Or should have known but didn’t
Is there then something else instead?
Something I know
The thought of what a life could be
That came to me
Just over a week ago.
The purifying fire of understanding
Has burnt away the other fire
The agitated painful one
That came with stopped desire
