To Make Much of Time

Here having sat
so many times
she says:
“But oh –“

A pause, a place to put my head
“Wait, and what –“

Another moment gone,
another thought lost:
and what beauty
oh what horror
passing through.

If she could add them up,

but then why should she
flicking beads by
just to pass the time
into eternity.

“Here — no, here,”
she points,
a space in time
carved into crystal ball

“you were born in fire
and made of water
and those will last
long after you are dust.”