Memory and Thyme

years tumble by

like pebbles on the shore

they sink forgotten

leaving only ripples

old jobs

past loves

lost friends

time is the glacier

inexorable and unforgiving

coming for us all

time creases my hands

my eyes my mouth

it greys my hair

it makes me patient

and claims small

glimpses of wisdom

time is a litany

of lost visits

dead faces

forgotten places

where we once hid

and names etched

in memory

seasons flit by

my window

winters heaped

like cordwood

savoured meals

things to laugh on

others to rue

far-flung places

wild spaces

cold water falling

hibernating deserts

palm trees amid

remains of old fenceposts

and rusted wire

christmases long ago

deep snows

white lilies

easter bread loaves

special feasts

and sunday roasts

like pepper or thyme

memories spice our lives

making fragrant days

and piquant nights

without memory

we are nothing

pebbles ground to sand

blown away in the wind

~e