when crinkles turn to wrinkles
and smiles turn inside out
what’s passed is long past
grin back boney bleached ivory whites
looking right through you
frightened you return their gaze
dare you reach out and touch
the creature you have become
descended cold from death’s surprise
lifted by the story of a stork
dead dropped by doctored demons whose
lattice patterns foretold a future frost
in the mist of the morning
frozen lamps glow in the fog of night
forgive the day its clear blue heat
bathe us one last time in mysterious light
myths and stories cleanse our life
still eternity’s so long it can forget
our tears frozen in this long torment
praying for a convenient covenant
in a verse that whispers
rhymes and rhythms to itself
in an ocean, floating stars and unseen waves
lost melodies shimmer in silence like tombs
wafting on the fantastic
combing through colored threads
designs passed down by life
as if we were God?
epitaphs denounce us down to the day
bought and paid for zodiacs cipher seconds
science takes forever so we settle for hope
inside our panic bides the time it haunts
until our wrinkles have turned to dust
long ago smiles light the other’s way
the patient past waits its turn in queue
watches with a smile our now melt away.