I'm the one who is "abashed." Thank you, Dick, Tim, everybody, for the generosity of your comments! This is an old English teacher's poem, as much as anything else: I suppose the grammar gets into the poetry the same way the cooking and child-rearing and gardening do, as part of the "vocabulary" of my days.
Terese, what I meant in line 3 and maybe didn't say clearly is that the indicative seems to do the whole job when you're young, but once it has slipped away (by becoming inadequate)the subjunctive becomes "the mood of choice," in both senses: the "right" mood, but also the mood that reveals the choices, such as they are. I'm not sure that comes through, but it was in my mind.
The trouble with words is that they're the only nails we have, but they don't nail reality down perfectly or permanently! In two languages I've never once succeeded in making a situation or a feeling or an insight sit still completely, but only partially. I appreciate your comment. And what a pleasure it was to ride crosstown in that taxi with you! You made that otherwise frantic experience fun.
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