jinevra howard's "Time"

I used to notice, periodically, the time passing by.
Now I am so aware of it that I seem to pass with it.
I have become time.
And hardly a moment passes that I do not acknowledge
Will never be my present, or future, again.
Each step I take is outdated.
I write my past with trembling fingers,
Afraid to laugh too loud
Afraid to sleep too sound
Afraid to love too deep
Afraid to let go of this academic illusion of a grasp on my moment,
This moment,
The only thing I can ever possess...
But I have lost it again.

by Jinevra R Howard, jrhoward@athena.mit.edu