On slide and monkey-bars in turn
The shouting children, fearful, brave,
Circle back to the first refrain.
The air-raid drill and the fire alarm
Alert their elders, fearful, grave:
Time is the fire in which we burn;
We have always been ashes. Children run,
And weeping for what they cannot have
Circle back to the first refrain
In failing light. Time to go home.
My heart is a stone I cannot carve.
Time is the fire in which we burn
Great stumps to nothing. The failing sun
Is gone. Go in, for the light you crave,
Then circle back to the first refrain.
Time is the school in which we learn
There is no daylight left to save.
Circle back to the first refrain:
Time is the fire in which we burn.
