A Period of Time

— Who will learn?
— The one I was thinking of.
— And what is he like? Is he a child?
***

He will learn.
He still needs
angels and demons
to play with him a while.
Like a few children
who skipped out of a period of time.

He will forget.
He still needs
to listen hard to some god
no longer playing
at good and evil,
at hot and cold,
dark, light and all the rest…
but playing music so well
that he longs to make up words
to sing along with the song.

He will learn
that nothing
must ever stop,
and even death
must not,
though it be sick,
ever die.

He will learn to forget
the shouts, and the laughter.
Contempt and glory.
He will learn to forgive
friends, and foes.
To raise a racket.
To play at being a child,
to grow old.

And at the close of the day gone by,
back in the period of time,
he will lull his fears to sleep.
He will line up toys — moments
on the pillow
and through the drowsing dreams.