Listening to the Koln Concert

After we had loved each other intently,

we heard notes tumbling together,

in late winter,  and we heard ice

falling from the ends of twigs.

The notes abandon so much as they move.

They are the food not eaten, the comfort

not taken, the lies not spoken.

The music is my attention to you.

And when the music came again,

later in the day, I saw tears in your eyes.

I saw you turn your face away

so that the others would not see.

When men and women come together,

how much they have to abandon! wrens

make their nests of fancy threads

and string ends, animals

abandon all their money each year.

What is it that men and women leave?

Harder than wrens’ doing, they have

to abandon their longing for the perfect.

The inner nest not made by instinct

will never be quite round,

and each has to enter the nest

made by the other imperfect bird.