A Strange Change

Here is an hourglass of our time, 

two spirits swirling like a carnival ride —

one with silver strands slowly coming undone, 

and slips a light year away as we sit palm to palm —

the other a newborn girl looking out at the world 

and smelling sweet as Texas strawberry pie. 

Here is where these two spirits meet —

at the kitchen table where all sins are atoned 

and we wait with teacups half full,

watching a thousand crystal grains settle into place

to form only a minute’s worth of passage in time.

One minute of life almost done and the other just begun —

as paper thin skin hands turn to stardust under hospital lights

and a newborn is carried home for the very first time —

this is right before the hourglass is flipped once more 

and life is reassured by the sadness, the strain,

the change and the flight.