24 Esfand 1404
Quatrain 51 of 75
“The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.”
Reflection · Winter 1404
In winter the Moving Finger has written most of the year. The lines are numerous and indelible, and the winter offers the first sustained opportunity to read them — in the long dark, in the quiet. Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it — winter tears are the most real. The year has been long and the record contains things you would revise if you could. You cannot.
But look at the whole record. The full winter reading of the year's writing will also contain lines that were worth having written. The winter Finger is still writing. The year is not yet over.