Time

I pause in walking to listen to the owl

and the night has ended

but the sun does not rise until

I've run barefoot 

across the frozen lake

My lover smiles and the summer day is long

enough to hide and seek

long enough for dancing cheek to cheek

The children run away and join the circus

before the potatoes finish roasting

They say Mother we'll write

every fortnight 

I've forgotten what they look like

I read their letters by the full moon

reddish in autumn

and all the leaves have fallen 

from all the many trees

by the time I brush my teeth