a man walks through his life

A man walks through his life

as he did when he was a boy,

taking a pear here, an apple there,

three peaches.

It is easy.  They are there, by the roadside.

I want to say to him, stop.

I want to say to him, where is the plum tree you planted?

But how can I say this?

I suck on the pit of my question,

I who also eat daily the labor of others.

~ Jane Hirshfield

from After