Hands of Time

I want to stop the hands of time,
To stop the changes it brings.
Years flow as the seconds strike on the clock.
How can seconds change to years,
And years to decades in seconds?
What happens to time
 between the seconds and years?

I see the baby, fresh and new to life,
I blink my eyes and
see a child entering school.
I close my eyes and open them to a youth,
ready for the world.
I sleep and am awakened
 to an adult struggling with life.
I want to stop the hands of time,
To stop the changes it brings.

I am young, my parents filled with life.
I start to school, my world grows bigger.
I enter the workforce, the world at my feet.
I struggle with life, trying to make sense of it.
I want to stop the hands of time,
To stop the changes it brings.

Make time stop changing my world,
Stop making my parent’s steps slower
 and so fragile.
I don’t want them to get older,
each second is too fast!
I want them whole again, as in my youth.
I want their voices strong,
their bodies renewed.
Stop the hands of time, dear Lord,
Please stop the changes it brings.

Make the seconds longer, dear Lord,
Change the years to days, decades to weeks.
Let each moment linger longer,
Help me to make treasures of each day.
I want to change the hands of time,
To stop the changes it brings.

Help me accept the hands of time.
Help me prepare for the changes.
Hold me close as time flows into eternity.
As the hands of time changes my world
I, and my world, become part of time,
part of the changes.

© Jo Autrey  June 18, 2005
used with permission 
To Read more of Jo's writings click Here

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