Lament

For thirty-five or forty seconds,
I forgot about how she left me
As I watched October elms unleaving.

If there can be a few seconds,
Maybe an hour or a day?
Perhaps more time free from sorrow.

But my consciousness is divided
By the several loves I’ve known,
Each of them taking a part of me forever.
But I can never give the same things twice,
Except, perhaps, in memory.