Waiting + 

When I am alone I am happy. + 

The air is cool. The sky is + 

flecked and splashed and wound + 

with color. The crimson phalloi + 

of the sassafrass leaves + 

hang crowded before me + 

in shoals on the heavy branches. + 

When I reach my doorstep + 

I am greeted by + 

the happy shrieks of my children + 

and my heart sinks. + 

I am crushed. + 

Are not my children as dear to me + 

as falling leaves or + 

must one become stupid + 

to grow older? + 

It seems much as if Sorrow + 

had tripped up my heels. + 

Let us see, let us see! + 

What did I plan to say to her + 

when it should happen to me + 

as it has happened now? + 