It’s Always the Before

It was the summer before the shattering
Event everyone memorializes,

So that no one who remembers remembers
It as anything but before the other,

With a tremor of nostalgia or wonder,
But of course it held none of that at the time.

Each summer holds the memory of the last
Autumn firmly in mind as summer’s ending,

So you might want to remember that summer
As rich with the memories of the future

It had, free of the memories that you’ve had
Now, used for dreaming up your own future past.

Yes, we’re speaking of a specific summer.
Yes, it could turn out this or any summer.