3:32 am,
just counting down the hours
wanting to drag
that resolute minute hand
through the paces
obliterating any traces
of this Time,
The Great Devourer
that is in cahoots with gravity
to pull me down
tear me to pieces
utterly destroy me
within the fleeting moment
or dragged out through years
I see the battle raging full swing
every time I glance into a mirror
sallow skin slightly sagging
Crows feet, such bitter lines
Who ever said growing old
was easy?
Never mind,
they're probably already dead
rotted to dust
encased in a subterranean crust
and all those secret memories
dissipated into nothing
and this marble marker
has weathered through countless rain
snow drifts covered it,
suffocated it
obliterated it
now the raised edging
of forgotten names
are like hieroglyphics
from some secret alphabet
that no one can actually decipher
I feel like I've missed some great connection here
an opportunity to observe
to put into words
to witness the gnarled fingers
of a century old Oak
snapping quietly into the wind
little pieces of twig fall
like finger nail clippings
and even then I failed to realize
This world is surely disintegrating
all around me

mathiasthom
written 3/21/10