If you would have a heart to love

I retrace my path of yesterdays, a step and two and three

At the edge of where the ocean comes to land

And where my heart is free…

*

I pause in awestruck wonder…

An enormous hourglass of wood and clearest crystal

Suspended above the terra firma, afloat in a cloudy sky

I cannot see you within, my love

But, my heart knows you are there and I am lost in why…

*

The sands of a thousand days and more

Have flown and settled here one simple grain by one

*

A life they make, full and rich with much of this and that

Yet, as I stand outside of it and gaze at the towering mountain within….

*

I know in my very depths…

My love…he cannot breathe…

For the weight of it all upon him now, he has never any ease

*

The sands of time are closing in with each and every passing day

They tighten so about him

He cannot rest, or find his way

*

Infinitely it swirls upon itself letting not a single thing escape

My thoughts, they spiral in a pleading search

Hoping for an answer robed in grace

*

I am very small…whatever can I do…

*

Within my reach a gleaming sword stands ready

In silence does it wait

I fear it will be too much for me to wield

I fear I will fall short…

But, for my love

I choose and try

To take it firmly by the hilt

And raise it high

I swing with all I am

And although the glass is met…it trembles only slightly

Over and over I brandish the blade

Against the clear enclosure

Yet, to no avail…

Worn and weary…I fear that I have failed

I drop the steel,

Watching as it crashes to the ground

…my heart begins to weep…

…to cry without a sound…

*

This trap of holding time

How smooth and cold it is, and heavy with the world,

I close my eyes

While my fingers, feather soft reach forth in gentle touch…

And, with such as that, in less than a whisper

I hear the echo of a break begin…

A tiny fissure runs along the side…

*

What ray of hope is this!

*

One single grain of sand slips out

Racing through the air to solid earth

Another follows…and another still…

Until it becomes a healing stream of letting go…

*

The sandy scars of days that have been crushed upon each other

Swiftly fall away…

The rhythm of my heart begins to beat anew

As the melody of life does play

*

Soon enough the weight on him will lighten

My love will breathe once more

The morning air of a hopeful dawn

Fresh and simply pure

*

Time is neither linear or by a circle bound

*

One needn’t have an hourglass

To forever turn

And so command the moments

Within your heart to always burn

*

As the minutes and the hours fall

Joy and sorrow, both therein

We seek to collect them each around us

In a vain attempt to hold too many all at once

It is a fearful thing, this holding

And we begin to suffer from the force of it

*

Let the sand slip easily through

And come to rest where it belongs, upon an open shore

Caressed by tender winds

Kissed hungrily by ocean waves of evermore

*

If we would have breath to live

And heart to love

We cannot carry the entirety of our days

We were never asked to…

*

Like the sturdy world beneath our feet,

Moments are intended to hold Us…

Not us to hold them…

*

Mark the days if you must, my love

But only live them one by one

And let each of them gently go when their now is done…

*

Time was never meant to be contained within a glass

No matter how beautifully crafted it may be

*

So, I offer you this…

*

Gaze sweet and long into the endless ever blue

Warm yourself in the fire of the golden rising sun

Wish for wisdom from your guiding star

Dream deeply in the night for all the beauty yet to come

*

And last but mostly this, I hope for you to fly…

And breathe in ease and knowing love

I shall always be nearby…

****

ellie894 January 2, 2018