Monday, December 20, 2010

Like time to a stone


like the long spring twilight so slowly fading but not quite ending
          the dark winter's night without any real beginning

like the endless school year when we were still young children
          time, to a stone, as it is ground into sand by a stream

like the trees never growing though seen every day
          the changes on our own faces, so difficult to notice

like the loss which hurts less often than it did at first
          the future that contains us knowing only one direction

like the threads that lie scattered without cause or effect
          the lines of our lives flow then end, with no change in pressure

like the volcanic islands which arose, flourished and were swallowed
          the constant roar of the ocean as it is pounds away on a shore

like the day of the year which shifts light into dark
          the memory of a lonely figure fading off into a dusk

like the smallest of details which plagues one for long years
          the certainty of our passing can never quite be ignored

like the vision that visits in time of our greatest need
          there is this mute summons served without any notice

like the confusion that we sense at the center of so many things
          comes a slow perception that quietly aids in our adjustment

like the fearless zeal of those who know very little
          the honesty of children which cannot be ignored

like the brief moment we spend as ourselves on this blessed earth
          our un-measurable fraction of all of time grows ever smaller

like the two atoms fusing brightly in a far-off star
          the smallest cause can bring about the biggest change

like the simplest ideas that transform entire societies
          only the best teachers can explain all things to their children

like the way that details appear when one walks upon the land
          the faster we can go the less we are able to notice

like the myriad drops forming a river that’s now lost in the ocean
          those experiences unfolded into someone we had known

like the way the dawn ends so very quickly
          the morning builds quite slowly and then disappears

like the distance light travels while we are sleeping
          the multiverse measures our allotment with utmost precision

like the strain in our voices that was never there in the past
          the stranger with failing eyes shuffling up to the mirror

like the end of the day as we finally drift off into sleep
          the journey of the dying is taken alone, by one and by all

like the time that you wake up not a child anymore
          the days of our wisdom pass quickly in a dimming of our senses

like the home only dreamed of and the childhood but imagined
          the long distant future is as empty for any as for all of the others

like the many days so far gone that we have forgotten when we forgot them
          the unknown we emerged from lies infinitely open before us

like the things which once moved us and the songs in our hearts
          a quiet contemplation becomes a means to our end

like the far distant stars which move but little no matter our puny time frame
          things pass so quickly for so long and then comes nothing more

like the years passing by ever faster than we can grasp them
          the volume of uncertainty increasing geometrically

like the jagged lightning, we are hurled to the earth
          the endless days that follow leave but a random pile of pearls

like the holy blue planet in whose shallows we bathe in the light
          the darkness eternal surrounds while enfolding us into long night

like the countless tiny creatures with crucial lives to attend to
          the nearness of the emptiness spurs us on to but small actions

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