Too Close Together, Or Maybe Too Far Apart

Un train peut en cacher un autre.
As with trains, so too with hours and days.
You could be crushed by the well-hidden

If you do not pay sharp attention.
The past often turns out to have been
Something you hadn’t imagined there,

And then there it is, like that, your past,
Irrevocable as ever was,
Only somewhat more unfortunate.

Memory has to be primed with signs
To protect the imagination,
Darling, foolish toddler, only child.

Forewarned, you carefully cross the tracks
Of another rushing afternoon,
Clutching the tiny, indifferent

Hand of your fantastical offspring.
Alright, it’s safe to cross here, let’s go.
Never let go of that grip, never.