—time is a tree(this life one leaf)
but love is the sky and i am for you
just so long and long enough
–e.e. cummings
At dinner, the boy says
in a matter of fact kind of way
Did you know that one day
the sun will burn out?
Yes, says the dad, and
the little girl, starts to cry.
That means there will
be no more mornings,
she says. Oh sweetheart,
that’s true, says the mom.
But it will not happen
for a long, long time,
long after you are gone.
This is no comfort
to the weeping one,
who, between bites
of cucumber and rice,
is tasting the loss of light,
the end of warmth,
this life only so long.
Outside, three leaves
fall, golden and full
of sun, but she does not
notice them.