and now the stars

who vanishes but who was never here
not for such folk the vagaries of place
they come and go without a single trace
we do not even see them on their bier
they will be far away who we think near
and that is what we call normative case
the sheer plasticity of human space
matters not at all to those we hold dear
now gone to ground like an escaping fox
that flash of colour was the single sign
that things occurred and once were seen
we close the door but cannot set the locks
the fruit appears full-ripened on the vine
and what we saw occur has never been