“Song for What Comes Back”
for RJS (1924-1979)

Nothing comes back
when it’s gone.

This I know: the tide
sifts down, indifferent

and slow. Is that
where you go? Indifferent,

…

when things come back I know
they won’t be here for long:

nothing, nothing comes back
when it’s really gone.

Excerpt from a poem in the series,
“Cruel Duet” by Julia Mishkin
Printed with permission of the poet.