The hens are in the courtyard, the air cool but not harsh, exactly like the first time we came here and stuffed the place with hopes for the future. But these are not the same hens, and the air has been transformed by countless organisms, I realise as I notice that the magazine mark where I killed a fly has been painted over. She is still with me, thank God; the nouns are the same but the adverbs have changed. The place has been preserved, but we do not re-live moments; we have changed and abandoned so much since then.