What lasts

Hummingbird
For Tess

Suppose I say summer,
write the word for "hummingbird",
put it in an envelope,
take it down the hill
to the box. When you open
my letter you will recall
those days and how much,
just how much, I love you.


Five O'Clock in the Morning

As he passed his father's room, he glanced in at the door,
Yevgraf Ivanovitch, who had not taken off his clothes or gone
to bed, was standing by the window, drumming on the panes.

"Goodbye, I am going." said the son.
"Goodbye...the money is on the round table," his father
answered without turning around.

A cold, hateful rain was falling as the laborer drove him
to the station...The grass seemed darker than ever.

Anton Chekov, "Difficult People"


"What lasts is what you start with."

Charles Wight, from "A Journal of Southern Rivers'

From 'All of Us', Collected Poems, Raymond Carver