2021

It dragged its feet

Like a sullen child, longing for home

And it flew like the wind

Running ahead, out of control

 

It stumbled and fell

On the cold, slippy rocks

And then ran to the shore

To bathe, briefly in warm summer hope

Defying the tide with squeals of delight

 

And, reaching the top of a hard-fought hill

It looked to the sky

But the clouds scurried by

And refused to make way

For the moon and the stars

But still, they were there

Hidden in wait

Oblivion, oblivious to world-weary needs.

 

And the clocks clicked and clacked

And the hands made their tracks

Across acres of land

That seemed mired in the mud

But, nevertheless

Or always the more

They ticked and they tacked

With no care or no thought

Like the pebbles that tumble and shine

By the pull of the moon

 

As the century turns from its coming of age

From its raging of pain and its waiting in vain

The children will meet

At the top of the hill

And look out to the sea

And briefly, together, in silence, for a moment, a second, a lifetime

Two become one.