Harvest Moon

                 Horse-chestnuts              cannot be restored
                                      back to the bonny dew of birth
and it matters, despite their coming year on year.
They are the real jewels,               bullets and shells,
                                                                     in the gun-popped air.
They remind us
                 there is nothing like the present,
                 and no way to re-capture it.
                 Reap the lot and leave her lonely,
                                  but don’t think
                                  your headlights
                                                    will startle forever.

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