First Year.
When the words had all been used for other things,
we saw the first day begin.
Out of the calling water and the black branches,
leaves no bigger than your fingertips
were unfolding on the tree of heaven
against the old stained wall.
Their green sunlight that had never shone before.
Waking together, we were the first to see them,
and we knew them then.
All the languages were foreign and the first year rose.