I’m catching up to that last decade
wishing I’d understood earlier
about what drove you

getting up before the sun, even
on weekends.

Did you know time was an enemy?
You rarely let it show. Most of my days feel out of time
stuck out of step, dripping between hourglass sands.

One could could easily say love
or even obligation – but now I know too


sheer stubborn will is enough

and an awareness that sands piles up, eventually choking out the remainder.