In the Last of This Year is from Constellations of Desire, the third part of the Solitary Ethics series. It is the concluding poem, influenced by Montréal poet Robert Melançon, of the the second section, the Ostinato for Casals, which deals with the permanent interrelationship of the natural conditions of life and human art. It has recently been published by The Dalhousie Review, the literary periodical of Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is my work’s second appearance in the review.