Just Too Late
JUST TOO LATE
Five past five
Sign across the glass door states “Closed”.
At the adjacent store I had just left,
There were no more spools of whipcord
For the grass trimmer
Which I had bought too late in the season.
The grass was vigorous and green but seeded only
Three weeks earlier, in mid September.
Couldn’t seed it earlier
As the ground had to be re-soiled
After the construction of the freshly-roofed house.
Roof and walls of the house were
Only put in place in February, after a difficult winter.
Even though the house was started last year,
There had been delays with paperwork
For gas, electricity and water:
We should have started the paperwork two years earlier,
But were distracted by illness
And the need to buy an apartment in the city
As a fall-back investment
To cope with any unforeseen expenses with the house.
We bought the apartment following the starting
At a new job in this city,
After me quitting the previous job and moving house,
In order to be together at long last -
After our two legal separations were settled
Allowing us to marry.
That followed both our retirements
From long careers as professionals
And started us in this part-time worklife of teaching,
So completely different from the past:
Twenty five years in one office
Or fifteen years in some other production process.
Ten past five now, and I decide to come back
To the adjacent store tomorrow
And check to see if he has any more whipcord.
Got to get the grass cut - late, but
Before another difficult winter.
........................................................................
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