W. S. Merwin: "To Waiting"

You spend so much of your time
expecting to become
someone else
always someone
who will be different
someone to whom a moment
whatever moment it may be
at last has come
and who has been
met and transformed
into no longer being you
and so has forgotten you

meanwhile in your life
you hardly notice
the world around you
lights changing
sirens dying along the buildings
your eyes intent
on a sight you do not see yet
not yet there
as long as you
are only yourself

with whom as you
recall you were
never happy
to be left alone for long

"To Waiting" by W. S. Merwin, from Present Company. © Copper Canyon Press, 2001.

Photograph: "Girl Sitting and Waiting in an Urban Pavement Area," by Radu Razvan (originally black and white).