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Present Becomes Past by Lelia Thomas

Time does give way,
And life, so fleeting, does not last.
The days and years no more than seconds—
And present, so quickly, becomes the past.

A clock’s fingers shift like an unruly child.
The birthdays—the numbers—running awild.
The memories—the clock face—yellowed with wear.
Aging, so simple to do, yet harder to bear.

The good china broken or cracked at least;
Old bones—contorted and arthritic—just the same.
To good times forgotten,
Old joys gone lame.

So when children wish for adulthood, pay them no heed.
For you know better, being full grown, and they no more than a seed.
They know not how fast a second flies
To join all that which withers and dies.

So many lives that need no remembrance—
History lauds but a glorious few.
Childhood births many meaningless lives.
And old is replaced by new.

Time does give way,
Leaking age into the heart.
A simple task, that—to grow older;
But how well life was lived is the true art.

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Written in 2003. Live life to the fullest. Neither hour nor second hands will pause for you or those you love.