A second is an hour

when the dagger that is memories

of loved ones passed

plunges deep into your heart.

A year is a day

when you see the newborn baby

looking back at you

from your adult children’s eyes.

A night full of fever

and parental worry

lasts the lifetime of that child

within the parent’s mind.

A week lasts forever that

begins with Monday Morning Blues

but goes too fast when

lying on a beach in Sunny Spain.

Alarm clocks snoozed

move time faster

if the reason for the noise

is something you don’t like.

A moment can be fleeting

but can stay within your mind

and play with it forever

if that moment is regretted.

Regrets about yesterday

make a long tomorrow’s worry list

if those regrets prevent

today from happening at all.

Time passes if we watch it or we don’t

It doesn’t notice us at all

Our plans for tomorrow

never matter if tomorrow doesn’t come.

Now is forever

if we notice it and breathe it in

knowing that the miracle of life

continues when we’re gone.

Ann Gerety Smyth 23012019