A Man Walks Through His Life by Jane Hirshfield

A man walks through his life
as he did when he was a boy,
taking a pear here, an apple there,
three peaches.

It is easy. They are there, by the roadside.

I want to say to him, stop.
I want to say to him, where is the plum tree you planted?

But how can I say this?
I suck on the pit of my own question,
I who also eat daily the labor of others.

~ from After (HarperCollins, 2006)