The Hourglass
“Like sand through the hourglass,”
so goes the daze of my life…
a hazy mix of meter and mantra:
Shy shy little girl;
emerges from shell
only if she’s to sing.
Singer takes to the road,
works with the rude,
hangs with the rowdy.
Faces the raid of AIDS
on the dearest friends,
the dearest men…
Mentors anxious daughter
from dread-the-world to
worldly wise vixen,
fixin’ to show them all,
to know them all,
to grow from within.
I am all in this timekeeper:
A grain of salt or truth falls,
skims the surface of my past.
Don’t care how much is left
to sift and flow, but the
bottom bits… these, I know.
© 2013 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
Hourglass image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Day 22 of NaPoWriMo! PAD (Poem A Day) in April…
Imaginary Garden With Real Toads has Open Link Monday, so I will post there a wonderful prompt from my friends Walt and Marie Elena at Poetic Bloomings, “Time Flies.” When I thought of the hourglass, the next “tape” from the Music of My Life was the theme to an old soap opera, along with its catch phrase: “Like sands through the hourglass, so go the Days of Our Lives…” and I was off and running for my pencil.
Hope all had a good weekend. I know I’m enjoying a break in the Wisconsin snow-spits of the past few days. Peace, Amy
Sharp Little Pencil 
brenda w
These I know…
Poetic Bloomings
Love this. Love your transparency. Love your honesty. Love your expression. Love you.
Marie Elena
Sharp Little Pencil
Aw, shucks, Marie. I’s just doin’ my thing.
McGuffy Ann
I identify with you.
margaretbednar
Shy shy girl … but she can sing. I find that interesting and so very true. I find some singers to be quite shy. Now actors.. don’t think I’ve ever met a shy actor 🙂
Sharp Little Pencil
LOL
Sherry Blue Sky
Fantastic write, Amy….”these, I know”.
Debbie
Excellent, Amy!
vivinfrance
Wisdom, wordplay and a wonderful flow in this poem.. I specially love the last stanza
Adura Ojo
I hear you. Love the second to the last stanza the most.
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks for leaving a link, Adura. Coming over to see you now, and thanks for the kind words. Amy
Adura Ojo
http://adura-ojo.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/natures-force.html
Roger Green
You are a wise soul, Amy.
And on another matter, I used to watch Days of Our Lives for about a year c 1990.,
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, Roger. I only used to hear the theme while doing homework or having a “mental health day off” from school with Mom. She’d be out there, sipping sherry at stupid o’clock in the afternoon!! A.
Henrietta Choplin
Beautiful, Amy!!
oldegg
It is always a pleasure to read your words. You’ve seen the world, you tell it straight, you stand tall and I am so proud I can talk to you as you are such an inspiration.
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, Robin. Actually, I’m only 5’4″, but I stand as tall as any “concentrated” person can! We all need to stand up not just for our own rights, but especially for the “other” in our society. They need help to fight the Powers That Be, and we can supply it. Peace, Amy
Kerry O'Connor
I found this to be a very moving read. There is much in life which seems to trickle by, many sad and tragic events, as well as moments of jot and triumph. I found your final lines to be especially powerful in conclusion.
Debi Swim
I, too, love the last line, though truth be told the older I get the more I do think of what’s left, yet today and yesterday is really all we have and know best. Loved this poem. I’ll be back! http://georgeplace2.blogspot.com/
Jim
“Don’t care how much is left
to sift and flow, but the
bottom bits… these, I know.”
I love it, Amy. Does that mean I understand it? No but I am taking it that your writer knows the end without worrying too much about how she will get there.
It could also be the bottom line in a business sense, i.e. the bottom line on the profit and loss statement is the profit remaining for the owner. Business ethics will determine in part what the bottom line says as will the owner’s other business practices.
..
Sharp Little Pencil
Jim, I love it when folks admit they don’t understand the meaning of something I wrote. I frequently do the same on other blogs! This really was not rooted in business. The “bits I know” are the funny, interesting, bizarre, and altogether satisfying moments of all my past. This hourglass is simply running out of sand, but I don’t care to know when my time is up… I’ll just swim in the sand at the bottom, remembering the foolishness and fun of the first 56 years… especially my 20s, and then my 40s, when life truly began for me. Thanks so much, Amy
I HAVE A VOICE
a knockout !
Sara v
Amy, so well done–knowing those bottom bits..
purplepeninportland
Funny and clever beginning to poem that just keeps getting better!