Less

Lane edged
with trees at first, and

squares of light
that mean

this space is tended.
Mean there is intention

here, hands and tools
to keep intact.

Expect a tomorrow
much like today.

Expect the pact to hold,
the sea to stay

in place. Failure
to expect: what we

call madness. For example
to notice

those birds are not
where they are

supposed to be.
That disappearance

multiplies. Not only
the ordinary

betrayals: we thought
we were damned

to live
among traces.

We must live
without them now.

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Copyright © 2012 Amelia Klein All rights reserved
from Beloit Poetry Journal
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission