On Time

time slips by  
    fast and slow
            depends if you're looking
      or not
 
tracking time
      to pin it down
      when it tries to escape
bells
      schools, churches, clocks
      reminding us
      where we are
            in its inevitable stream
 
holding time
      clenching the minutes
      coordinating with society
      the hands start to bleed
             drip, drop
             tick, tock
      death grip
             on that
                   which kills you
 
the unit a life is measured by
      a thing so vast
      but we only
              see with certainty
              the crumb of the present
      the depth of the past
      and the fog of the future
              perpetually obscured
 
orbits around the sun
      the daily rotations
      the stars moving  
                celestial bodies
                dancing through the void
constrained to a calendar
chained to a clock
 
records of past time
        rings of the trees      
        zircons in the crust
                atomic decay
        rock layers
                 stacked pages  
                 of earth's secrets
                 a diary of her life
 
ancient tomes in archives
         from the musings of monarchs
         to merchant complaints
on
         papyrus, clay tablet
         jar of scrolls in a cave
         notched wood
vessels for thoughts of the dead
         messages from the past
         silent words
         never thought to be spoken again
 
a mind is compelled
         to know when you are
         as much as where
but my own is never inclined
         to keep pace
         so i curse the phrase
         'on time'