-- The Wheel of Time –

John Herlihy

The wheel of time, relentless, insistent,

Its forward movement ever persistent.

Future arrives early in the dream of hours,

The past ever late with its waning powers.

The present moment never arrives or departs,

A sacred inner sanctum echoes songs of larks.

Time ever present, piercing the heart fragile,

Both beating as a drum, ever steady and agile.

Time ever present, being the there in there,

Eternity at its beck and call, as in a prayer.

Time on its journey, but where does it go?

Only the arrow knows as it flies from its bow.

We follow meekly, begging crumbs from a bowl,

All the happy and sad moments that time stole.

In hours of intimacy, we enter its mystic sphere,

To lose time’s bubble, watch it blithely disappear.

We return into time like meeting an old friend,

A little scary to witness eternity without an end.

For now, I will be content with the moments mine,

The hereafter offers time enough for feeling sublime.

Give back time’s heartbeat, measured as a drum,

Give back my own heartbeat and its soothing hum.

Something unpleasant amid these soaring infinities,

Time’s end relinquishes all those glorious mysteries.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Wednesday 15 June 2022