Hour Glass

sand slips

between my fingers

no matter how tight

I may clutch

onto it

for I am an hourglass

fixating on

each grain

as it falls

through my grasp

and back to

the shore

from where

it came

a shore

of wet sand

I walk along

leaving behind

footprints

only for the tide

to wash them away

a shore

I am

prisoner to

with each step

contemplating

how many more

I may have left

until I step too far

into the shore

and am swept away

dragged under the waves

pulled lower and lower

by its currents

of uknowable intricacy

as I lay beneath

the layers of water

my lungs burn

suffering

begging for breath

driving me 

to fight

struggle

and peer through

the darkness

that surrounded me

on all sides

and swim upwards

through the pain

and into the light

dor the only way out

was through

how the light

felt closer and closer

with every kick

until I broke through 

to where the sea and sky kiss

and was finally enveloped

by the dazzling light

of the sun and clouds

dotted with birds

playing together

like a painting

brushed by the universe

itself

I floated there

in silence

on my back

looking up

at the the heavens:

so large

so high up

so far away

while I was down here

so small

so far down

so far away

how in my hoeplessness

my sight returned to the birds

how in my sadness

I looked to them

how in my dispare

I looked up to them

thinking:

if the birds

could find joy

in this short life

in this beautiful world

then maybe

I could

too?