Once the lightest snowfall comes
That clings to roofs and lawns
Like the silk slip clung to your hips,
The summer is over, completely gone.
We remember what never happened,
And because the years go in a circle,
We think our lives do,
When what they really do is unwind
Like a twisted thread,
Frequently changing direction.
Thought we yearn for it all winter,
It is a new summer that comes--
Not the old one.
We think when the summer returns
Things will be what they were,
But once its gone, its gone forever.