All at Once

The once of close calls
in St. Tropez and Saranac—
the once of Kakie’s room
with everything in order
down to hairpins—the once
of being told to think
of dying as the “death process”—
the once (if you’re lucky or picked)
of knowing that love outlives
both lover and beloved—the once
of a marshmallow swallowed warm—
the once of watching your son
conduct an orchestra—the once
of waiting and waiting and waiting—
the once of seeing that greed
means more than enough
while saving is greed reversed—
the once of baseball or Shakespeare
where time’s ignored, and all
that matters is performance—the once
of saying that sin means harming
someone on purpose, including
yourself—the once of wanting
what happened once to happen
once more or never again.