Poem For A 40th Birthday
(1989)
When I was five,
I thought that I could remember
every year that I had lived with perfect clarity,
I could remember every toy
I ever owned;
The people I had always known
were still around me,
My mother was still young.
I did not understand the idea
of the future,
Ten cents seemed like a lot
of money,
I could say my name and address
if I were lost;space
If I could rewrite my days
since five,
I suspect that such a retrospective
would require no great revision.
If I planted the same seends
in a different plot of earth,
And then walked away to step
into the following years,
I know that I could not always
guide the wind and rain,
The seeds I planted could grow
at any speed,
Or in any direction.
It is impossible to foresee
the results of change,
Therefore I accept a
real
versus
imagined childhood.
Today I can remember my last
birthday,
But less clearly the days between
39 and 40,
I don't know why I remember
what I remember;
Ten cents can spill out of
my hand unnoticed,
My address has changed . .
. I have given my wife my name.
I awaken today not knowing
what to expect of myself,
I do not own a philosophical
prospectus for this time onward;
"Ah yes . . .
But let us have a fine breakfast,"
I say,
To put things in perspective.
*****
The Poetry of Vonne Barnett
