I’m glad you like it, he said,
since it may be the last of its kind.
There was nothing to say;
in fact, it did seem the end of something.
It was a solemn moment.
We stood awhile in silence, staring at it together.
Outside the sun was setting,
the sort of pointed symmetry
I have always noticed.
If only I’d known, he said,
the effect of words.
Do you see how this thing has acquired weight and importance
since I spoke?
I could have done this long ago, he said,
and not wasted my time beginning over and over.