GONE TIMES

I wake up with a yawn, watching the light over the hills 

Push the dark away, and pull a curtain over the stars 

Seconds, hopscotching around the face of the clock 

Remind us that another day is here, time to do the chores  

Just ten more minutes, please? Pulling the covers over my head 

I think of all the gone times. The times of growing 

The teenage years, when only the girl next door 

Who smiled at every encounter, mattered.  

The college years and being a medic in the Air Force 

Took a big chunk, adding more to gone times. 

But what is time, I wonder? The earth turns, day to night 

Then turns again. It’s been doing so for eons 

I bet the world, animals and plants don’t keep time.  

Now, seems irrelevant compared to all other times 

To where I’ve been. People I loved, those who loved me back 

And others.   

The clock demands I should get up 

Just two minutes more. It’s the morning of another day 

Like the many mornings I spent getting up around the world. 

I’ve been awakened by the sound of traffic, sirens, war, prayers  

In many languages and church bells.  

Even the Big Ben’s vibrating echoes over  

The smoke covered brown houses of London added pages 

To Gone Times Journal. But even then, gone times were better. 

Now the merry-go-round of history announces turbulence ahead 

And all I can think about are gone times. 

Getup! 

I am coming! 

Reza Ghadimi