Sands of Time

I see it trickle

through the crevice of 

my fingers, I tighten the grip

yet it streams off

grain by grain by grain

taking along with it

all the happy memories

and just a tiny pain!

I see it slip

through the narrow neck

of the red hourglass

gravel after gravel after gravel

subsiding with it 

the warm winter nights and

rendering my soul the instants

that I can't unravel.

I see it run 

tick tock tick rock

the second, minutes and hours 

along the arms 

of the cuckoo clock

erasing the faintest thump

that always dwelled in my heart

every time our eyes struck.

I see it drift away

along with every 

splashing ebb of the surf

swash, backwash, swash

grit by grit by grit

hauling every shimmering pearl 

of passion that settled inside 

the pumping fleshy oyster.

I see the sand flee, run, hurry,

I try to hold it

with every drop of 

remaining strength,

the fleeting moments refuse

they pass gaily with every blink

soon the prevailing seconds

will be an instant of the 

bygone moment

I stare at the  sketchy tracks 

on my ruddy palm 

the wrinkles deepened 

the softness vanished

the cracks widened,

cruising on the sands of time

gifted me a heart with a frozen clime

I leave no footprints,

no trails of my existence  

just endure invisible wounds!