Time

How did it get so late so soon?
How did it get so late?
Now it is past the daily noon
Already on this date

Why do the seconds go that fast?
Where do they disappear?
What can I do to make it last?
When death it is I fear

With every sip of breath I take
The ending closes in
Wrinkles of old age do make
Degeneration of the skin

Oh Time, where do you flee toward?
Oh Time, where do you go?
If leaving me behind this start
You stop the forward flow

I can’t go back but follow through
So, stuck in this line’s vault
Just one way up is to renew
Never collapses to a halt

Forward we go as sure we must
As rays that never end
In circles of Life’s wind, we trust
Like bamboo sprouts, we bend

Second Place "Poetic Traditions Poetry Contest "  [E] October 2023