What does the passage "or may simply be afloat at evening like clouds unable to make repairs" in the poem "Children" mean? Bill Manhire: Children ...

Manhire's
use of the line is in contrast to the previous thought.  The previous thought is one where
children are presented as doing something, such as "crossing the road, not looking left,
not looking right."  The image of the "afloat at evening like clouds unable to make
repairs," is one where we see children being in a state of passivity.  This helps to bring
to light that while the inevitable end will...