名人诗歌|The Valve

The one-way flow of time we take for granted，

but what if the valve is defective^{1？ What if the threads}

on the stem wear thin， or the stuffing box or the bonnet²

ring leaks， or the joints^{3 to the pipe ring fail，}

and there's a backwash？

It happens.

And then old loves，

meeting again， have no idea what to do，

resuming or not resuming from where they were

years before. Or the dead come back to chat.

Or you are reduced for a giddy moment to childhood's

innocent incompetence^{4. You look up}

as if to see some hint in the sky's blackboard.

But then， whatever it was， some fluff or grit⁵

that clogged^{6 the works， works free， and again time passes，}

almost as before， and you try to get on with your life.