On the Anniversary of His Death

For the Anniversary of My Death
            (W. S. Merwin)

Every year without knowing it I have passed the day
When the last fires will wave to me
And the silence will set out
Tireless traveler
Like the beam of a lightless star

Then I will no longer
Find myself in life as in a strange garment
Surprised at the earth
And the love of one woman
And the shamelessness of men
As today writing after three days of rain
Hearing the wren sing and the falling cease
And bowing not knowing to what

American poet William Stanley Merwin was born in 1927 and died at his home in Hawaii one year ago today. His poem 'For the Anniversary of My Death was published in 1993.