Philip Larkin poem

[lydgate]

I've mentioned in another post how the aria "Vissi D'Arte, Vissi D'Amore" has had a special resonance for me since I tested positive. Here's the final stanza/section of a poem by Philip Larkin -- my favorite poet, bar none -- that's been much on my mind lately. The poem is called "Reference Back."

Truly, though our element is time,
We are not suited to the long perspectives
Open at each instant of our lives.
They link us to our losses: worse,
They show us what we have as it once was,
Blindingly undiminished, just as though
By acting differently we could have kept it so.

Jay