The shad and asparagus are over, the berries
And late bluefish still to come: and yet beyond these wait
The successive New Years at harvest, mid-darkness and
Arisen spring—three points each of which could be a pure
Spot of origin, or a clear moment of closure.
As it is, they whirl by as bits of what is being
Measured rather than as milestones, as parentheses
Which turn out to have been what was being put between
Brackets in the first place. Occasions usurp the false
Fronts of giddy centers on circumferences. How
The lazy susan of the seasons turns around! piled
Chock-a-block with delectables, eased about by Time,
Our most thoughtful and, ultimately, murderous host.

John Hollander, Powers of Thirteen 15, “Beginnings”, in Selected Poetry, in memoriam