2,500

 Two and a half thousand


Two and a half thousand 

I’m counting down

The days that are remaining 

If I last to eighty. 


I take the beads, removing one

In bed before retiring

And thank the Lord for the gift

That’s slow but surely shrinking. 


Tomorrow as another one

Makes it way and leaves me

I cherish all the days I’ve left

I grieve for all the days receding. 


Another day, another bead

Gone forever, without a heed,

Slipping through my fingers

Fleeting time just never lingers. 


On and on the countdown runs

It’s running down despite my sums

Powerless to halt its progress

Every person shares this process. 


Til one day the hours run out

For the wealthy and the poor

Blinded God of time decides

Nowhere for a soul to hide. 


Keeping track will not bring back

The days we spent asleep 

The days we wasted thinking that

The store was filling every morning. 


Thirty thousand filled the tank 

Now I’m left with eight percent

The battery’s running down each day

The power’s lower in early May. 


Blessed or cursed, I know not what

To think of time as it runs out

Blessed perhaps to have the chance 

To take the floor for this last dance.  

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