The Best Thing

I was his foreigner

And he was mine.

We ate on terraces

And drank the cheapest wine.

And he believed in me

Down by the serpentine.

How was I to know

it was the best thing

To come along for a long time.

I turned the page

And saw three children with smiles.

I looked to see

What I could make of the youngest child.

And as she blew the candles out

She turned five.

How was I to know

It was the best thing

To come along for a long time.

What do the people at the end of the world do

About time? What about time?

Their secret sleeps with me.