how gentle was Time back when
back when there were no summer rains
and new-found love was both innocent and wild
back when Time had yet to be wholly realized
had yet to aggrieve, to exist

before the epoch of open awakening
Time, a mock-ruin folly gracing a veiled
skyscape, emptiness reigned absolute
then came a purposeless craving species
inventors of Time, guardians of legends
bearing evolutions curse of awareness
myths in extremis, consumers of all crux
sharing roost beneath, above and beyond

immortality was theirs to keep, yet such bountiful breeders
corrupt greedy feeders they fashioned a clock counting
down the demise of flesh and mind, became slaves of Time
Time, that invisible thief of all that is precious