Life Ring

Memory left drowning

betwixt and beyond

 floating discarded

on yesterday’s pond

The future is calling

in voices distressed

 reservoirs draining

tomorrow beset

The bridge crossing over

these waters is rough

its toll but the present

time never enough

The turnstile upon you,

its arm is still down

the cost what you’re leaving

its promise unsound

But once set in motion,

there’s no turning back

allusion receding

with blood in its tracks

All hail to the moment,

the instant supreme

whose motion internal

—all else but a dream

(Dreamsleep: October, 2021)