Fabrice B. Poussin

Let time fly

Staring at the large hands high upon the wall
they scribble words with their worn-out pencils
chewed to the lead by anxious lips
why won’t the clock speed its course to recess?!

It may be that time has slowed to tease those who rush
for you see, none can wait to build that house
and watch from a safe distance the faithful buddy
who protects the roaring decades ahead.

From time to time some rest in the evening breeze
a week stolen from the busy streets made of gold
to drown into a sunset beyond the ocean line
the taste of salt barely seeping through their weary suits.

When wrinkles settle in the grooves of an aging tale
they may not run the race of their wasted youths
yet they still seem to set aims to an impossible future
raggedy limbs trembling to the threat of unlikely dreams.

It is the wish no one will be denied, as they stumble
eager to find a place in a history too large for them
looking back to years which flashed to crumbling memories
as reticent as they may be, they must so soon bid their farewells.

Fabrice B. Poussin is a professor of French and English at Shorter University. His work in poetry and photography has appeared in Kestrel, Symposium, The Chimes, and hundreds of other publications worldwide. Most recently, his collections In Absentia and If I Had a Gun were published in 2021 and 2022 by Silver Bow Publishing.