The speaker begins by describing how the clocks have been set back an hour—the end of daylight savings time has arrived. The time change has stolen away light from the speaker, and she is now walking around a part of town she shouldn't be in, thinking regretfully of a lost love. It is raining in this sad part of town, and the speaker is consumed by thoughts of the mistakes made by her and her former lover.
If she could only gain back some daylight and some time, she thinks, then she could also take back all the regrettable things she said, and could erase all the regrettable things she heard her lover say.
But this isn't possible. Instead, both she and her ex-partner will be dead and cut off from light, with the nights seeming to lengthen while the days shorten.
