Time

is a Mercurial lover,

magical and maddening

all at once.

 

I am addicted,

constantly lusting

blushing when I brush against

the dancing second hand.

 

Time

laughs at my flushed cheeks

dismisses my flirty pout

and marches forth.

 

Time

is steady

and indifferent.

 

Time,

maybe is not so Mercurial

after all.

 

But, I am—

 

My emotions are mood rings,

coloring each cascading moment.

My perceptions are tinted glasses,

bathing the hours in a hundred hues.

My inner states are engines

altering the speeds of a single second.

 

But,

time

is steady

and indifferent.

 

I cry, the clock ticks.

I laugh, the clock ticks.

I hurt, the clock ticks.

 

But my heart is

the real time-keeper.

 

I cry, my heart beats.

I laugh, my heart beats.

I hurt, my heart beats.

 

My heart savors

the painful and delicious

the joyous and unbearable

the blissful and fantastic

because it is all fleeting.

 

My heart

reminds me

that time

heals

reveals

and peels off

every old scab.

 

Tick, tick, tick.

 

Yes, this moment is slipping from

my grasping hands

but will forever remain

tattooed on my

hummingbird

heart.

 

I close my eyes.

 

The clock ticks,

my heart beats

and life marches on.

 

Relephant read:

Music to Mend a Broken Heart.

Author: Sarah Harvey

Editor: Ashleigh Hitchcock

Photos: Jack Mallon on Flickr