Lines Written for Elmo Castelnuovo
Peter Everwine
It's not time that passes, it's you, it's I
-- Rutger Kopland
In winter, by late afternoon, it's almost dark
when you come home from the mine. I hear
the front gate creak and the metallic1 clink
of your pail before you round the corner
by the back steps where I've been waiting.
In the sharp chill
