Again and again—
and again, let us wake up
and do what has got
to be done; let us stretch
and bend down to touch
the rutted toes of civilization;
let us tuck the pale sheets
of our stray thoughts, tensed
syntax, and go and rinse
the wistful sheen of last night's
dreams from our grave faces.
Let us remark without bitterness:
how priceless nevertheless are
the grim objects staring back;
how stark, prim, and cleanly
the spaces that contain them—
how momentous it is now
to find ourselves the previous-
ly appointed curators
of everything that remains.
