Time bends us till we break
defying us to defy
gravity a savage kind of game
we play days defeat us
hours are an avalanche of aches
and pains yet we stay
the course putting the proverbial one foot
In front of the other like marchers in
some ceremonial band hands clasp
one another’s or air when he or she
who should be there
is gone so too gone
are all but memories and the fierce
almost primitive desire to make it matter
still we will our bodies to unfurl
like flags on windy days flapping
in a storm of desperation uncertain if
we wish to stay or go knowing
there is no coming back again when everything
that ever-mattered beckons to us
whispers to us from the future and the past
we stand bent and unsteady
almost ready…
Susan A. Katz (All rights reserved)
11/2021