Can I get used to it day after day
a little at a time while the tide keeps
coming in faster the waves get bigger
building on each other breaking records
this is not the world that I remember
then comes the day when I open the box
that I remember packing with such care
and there is the face that I had known well
in little pieces staring up at me
it is not mentioned on the front pages
but somewhere far back near the real estate
among the things that happen every day
to someone who now happens to be me
and what can I do and who can tell me
then there is what the doctor comes to say
endless patience will never be enough
the only hope is to be the daylight

~ W. S. Merwin  (September 30, 1927 – March 15, 2019). As published in the July 28, 2014 issue of The New Yorker

RIP Mr. Merwin. “Your absence has gone through me / Like thread through a needle. / Everything I do is stitched with its color.” . . . “We are saying thank you and waving / dark though it is.”

(“Separation” and “Thanks” both by W. S. Merwin)

Read more remembrances at The Merwin Conservancy.