A long time has passed and yet it seems Like yesterday, in the midmost moment of summer When we felt the disappearance of sorrow And saw, and saw beyond, saw beyond the rough stone walls The flesh of clouds, fresh with the scent Of the southern desert, rise in a prodigal Overflowing of mildness, of mildness It seems like yesterday When we stood by the iron gate in the center Of town while the pollen-filled breath Of the wind drew the shadow of the clouds Around us so that we could feel the force Of our freedom while still the captives of dark And later when the rain fell and flooded the streets And we heard the dripping on the porch and the wind Rustling the leaves like paper, how to explain Our happiness then, the particular way our voices Erased all signs of the sorrow that had been Its violence, its terrible omens of the end?