Oh make the future small,
like the painting we saw of St. Francis,
and there was, far away, a background city-
we only saw it with magnifiers and light.
And I do wish the future was like that.
Don't I know it.

Oh I will not move on.
I'll be here on the lawn 
in the same coat I have had,
although I ask that I could correct
every time of mistake and every regret.
And there's so much that I haven't yet.
Don't I know it.

And in the background of St. Francis
there were rivers, spires, a long way off,
we could not really see them very well.
I want to be beside you 
through all these things.
Cannot.
I want to keep this future
from such closer measure.
Cannot very well.