Hiatus

THIS scene is frozen in a sharp hiatus;
Nothing again will ever happen here.
Always this balanced meadow will await us,
The sun unsinking, the horizon sheer.

Always the bat will wheel above the river,
The rabbit be pursued, the fox pursue.
Always the tapered willow leaves will quiver,
The sweet fern touch the fence unchanged and true.

By time forgot the cows shall crop the grasses,
The sheep begin and then forget to bleat,
The branches bend for wind that never passes,
The crabbed buzzard pause on crooked feet.

Forever I shall stand here stony-hearted,
Watching you climb the high hill opposite,
My hand forever reaching, my lips parted
To say the word, but never saying it.