Time undoes itself

like an old man

who struggles to recall

why he left the house,

so he returns home

baffled and incomplete.

Each moment contains

its own distractions—

a turning away,

as if embarrassed

to be recognized

as someone else.

There is no time

to recoup, other

than what remains:

a gathering, like lovers

holding each other

against the dark

longing not to be alone.

(April 16, 2018)