As simply as a self-effacing bar of soap
escaping by indiscernible degrees in the wash water
is how a man may change
and still hour by hour continue in his job.
There in the mirror he appears to be on fire
but here at the office he is dust.
So long as there remains a little moisture in the stains,
he stands easily on the pavement
and moves fluidly through the corridors. If only one
cloud can be seen, it is enough to know of others,
and life stands on the brink. It rains
or it doesn’t, or it rains and it rains again.
But let it go on raining for forty days and nights
or let the sun bake the ground for as long,
and it isn’t life, just life, anymore, it’s living.
In the meantime, in the regular weather of ordinary days,
it sometimes happens that a man has changed
so slowly that he slips away
before anyone notices
and lives and dies before anyone can find out.
The quote, "In the meantime, in the regular weather of ordinary days,/ it sometimes happens that a man has changed/ so slowly that he slips away/ before anyone notices/ and lives and dies before anyone can find out." (17-21) reminds me of the saying, "If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?" I think that change, even if it goes unnoticed is still worth mentioning. It has still happened and it has changed the individual. I do agree that if the change has gone unnoticed by others that to the rest of the world the changed individual will seem the same as always. In the case of war, the soldiers that come back from war are changed, they are different. But I believe that just like the changed during war, they can change once returning home. It may take therapy and it might be only a minute change, but it is still a noticeable change no matter how small.
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