After hurricane Sandy we moved Warren's mother from Long Island to assisted living here in Warrenton, Virginia. Warren visited her every day and I stopped by most days. She loved clementines and we would try to leave a few in her room for snacks. Often I would visit before I went to teach my class at the Corcoran. She was always happy to see me and she would ask, "are you the one who brings me the oranges." I would tell her that Warren and I supply her with oranges and other snacks. After my short visit I would excuse myself, telling her I had to leave to go teach my class. And she said to me, "Oh you teach? My daughter-in-law is a teacher too."
All night while the rain fell
the dark valley heard in silence
the silent valley did not remember
you were asleep beside me
while the rain fell all around us
I listened to you breathing
I wanted to remember
the sound of your breath
but we lay there forgetting
asleep and awake
forgetting a breath at a time
while the rain went on falling around us
--
W.S. Merwin, "The Sound of Forgetting," Garden Time (Copper Canyon Press, 2016)
All night while the rain fellthe dark valley heard in silence
the silent valley did not remember
you were asleep beside me
while the rain fell all around us
I listened to you breathing
I wanted to remember
the sound of your breath
but we lay there forgetting
asleep and awake
forgetting a breath at a time
while the rain went on falling around us
--
W.S. Merwin, "The Sound of Forgetting," Garden Time (Copper Canyon Press, 2016)
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