I cannot remember now,
If the banyan or the matriarch
Fell first.
I cannot remember when,
The old house fell and the new one
Took its place.
I cannot remember when,
The gravel pathway was paved,
And cold comfort took home.
I cannot remember when,
I could not recognise the place
That did not judge tears shed in grief.
And for certain, I cannot remember now,
The moment I realised
That I did not belong to the shade that did not exist.
