Ever Onward

Ever Onward

Why must time
insist on dragging my bones
along with it?

–Tom Riley

In Flight from the Predator Time

In Flight from the Predator Time

The shadows of
the redwooods grant a lovely
place to hide.

–Tom Riley

No Time-Outs

No Time-Outs

You left your
watch somewhere but time kept
right on passing.

–Tom Riley

Never

Never

 
Rest assured: even
in eternity, you will never
find sufficient time.

 
–Tom Riley

 

One Truth

One Truth

 
Here is one truth you need have no doubt of—
Though it isn’t a matter to shout of.
Endless shouts are a waste.
Let the urge be erased!
Time is what we are all running out of.

 
–Tom Riley

Bulk of the Day

Bulk of the Day

 

You have wasted the bulk of my day.

Beyond that, I have little to say.

Time departs, then arrives.

It’s the stuff of our lives.

Thanks to you, mine has just drained away.

 

–Tom Riley

Sheer Need

Sheer Need

 

 

 

 

 

I turn to fleeting couplets from sheer need:

They’re all my audience has time to read.

 

 

 

 

 

–Tom Riley

Those Greetings

Those Greetings

 

 

 

 

 

I got greetings just now from the past.

Did I smile?  Oh, no: I felt harassed.

     That was time, getting mean.

     In that moment was seen

That not even the future would last.

 

 

 

 

 

–Tom Riley