I went to the place where my youth took birth
In the slow, round kiss of an amorous girl,
When sonnets and lace were the measure of earth,
...
Why should I sing of women
And the softness of the night,
When the dawn is loud with battle
And the day's teeth bite,
...
What of the night
And the eventual silences?
Art thou not cold with the knowledge of decay
And the uncompromising reaches of the earth?
...