"I recognize the fleeting time..."

I recognize the fleeting time, the running rivers,

I recognize the falling leaf by how it shivers,

By how it plunges into puddles, how it tenses…

I recognize the early dusk with all five senses,

I recognize Orion’s silhouette by any point,

The coming cold by the arthritis at the joints,

The chill that knows my body to the marrow -

I recognize it in the silence of the sparrow,

In shrinking daylight, in the density of soil,

In shrieking windows, in the burning of the oil,

In dearth of color, in the darkness - rife and deep,

And in the closeness of your body when we sleep.