Hourglass Turning
by Odin Roark

Given up
rendered free
shells once of safety's cover
now empty by scouring ebbs of sand

Tide-speckled beach
like once live shrapnel of wars past
now but broken respite
awaiting further retreat

Why now do the dunes arouse my sorrow
their feathery grass mounds unraveling
making conscious the disquieted nightmare
that awakened interchange with otherness

Why this time
this place
this pronouncement to be everything
lost
given up
freed of attachment

I recline amongst the pieces of white now
broken
exhausted
remnants awaiting like me the sea's foamy edges
to once again carry echoes of whispered battle cries

Such is life
once held tight
now but an hourglass turned ready
anticipating forever's journey