So many things to see if only time
allows the safe retreatings from advance
to strip away false glory and true grime
and strike much nearer heart at second glance

So much to hear if only ear can sort
the raucous wrangling of mad useless play
from joyful innocence that will cavort
and stoke more healing on a second day.

So more to do if only unknown fate
insists on come what soothing, not what sore
to undergird a climb to higher state
and stroke a second season's better score.

So reasons few to guard the first held ground
when knowledge grows a second time around.

- Robert Stone, 26 December 2010