Palindromic Year

                 i
 
     2002
     a curious year
     palindromic
 
     a numerological coincidence
     not intrinsic
     analysts say
 
     yet coincidences
     are the spikey protuberances
     in the fabric of reality
 
     that prod our minds
     to view reality
     in new ways

		 ii
 
     in the usual way
     at the time i traversed it
     2002
 
     back to winter again
     winter to spring to summer to fall
     january to december
 
     if we run time backward, an invariant
     which is the same reversed
     in sum, winter to winter
 
     for our new design
     familiar backdrop
     old background
 
		 iii

     snowflakes floating to heaven
     the summoned foliage hearkens
     while i stare in the mirror
 
     revealing the red-brown leaves beneath
     and gathering courage rises
     bits of whisker rise to my razor
 
     the overreaching branches beckon them
     to suckle as piglets at their mother
     and i paste my beard on, patch by patch

		 iv
     
     back comes innocence, with it ignorance
     get it right this time?
     i'd run all my years in reverse
 
     oh shit
     no, it wouldn't work
     back to a point before regret
 
     just a crap shoot all over again
     the memories evaporate one by one
     throw the lever

		 v
 
     2002
     2002
     which one was forward?
 
     no way to tell
     take the long view
     a year is a point anyway
 
     with points it is meaningless
     to talk about
     the front end