Helpless as they escape,
Spilling from the close confines of clenched fist.
Something lost,
Found but tossed away,
The fool yet tries to keep the sand from falling.
Watch the grains leave,
Time slows in the glass,
But doesn't stop.
Each grain a strange parody of grief -
Tears that fall in waiting darkness.
Wait.
Giftwrap them first in torn fabric of the once concealed soul.
Then let them go.
Don't worry,
Broken walls will let any in now.
Strange irony -
The vandal was the victim.
Hold fast the disappearing sand,
Grovel before it and beg it to stay.
Aye, a few pieces stick to nerveless fingers when the rest is gone.
They quickly turn to pins though,
Painful reminders of past folly.
Grasp thy knees child,
Keep thyself warm on the lonely shore.
The wind will come,
The water will come,
Take comfort best ye can in them.
Forget the sand.
No child can hold onto failed dreams.
Let it go,
Bask in the watery moonlight.
Count the stars,
Teardrops kin to those on thy cheek.
Child,
Time cannot hold still for thee,
The glass must be turned over,
The sand must start falling once more.