Flipping the Hourglass

5:01 PM
His worn size 12 sneakers met the surface of the cobblestone arching bridge
Within them lie tired aching feet
Burdened by the impaired dictator they were forced to support
Striking stone after stone,
till these feet swelled with anger towards all surfaces

Above the feet, sat the mind
A mind equivalent of a shadow in the night
Dulled down on purpose, 
Till he'd realized that sharpeners do not exist
For those incapable of lifting a finger

Between scraps of burden and spices gone bad
Lay the functional, innocent body
Heart beat, lungs rose, eyelids flickered
Yet all were blind to the reality which was
that if their sickened soul could do magic
None of that would be true

5:02 PM
He stepped closer to the edge
For a perfect second, instinct struck a slight match of fear within
But the cawing crows that didn't exist, blew out the candle
And all went back to numb

It spun around him,
the future
Of newspaper articles describing it
Police officers inspecting it
Loved ones despising it

It wanted to go
they should understand that
It wasn't alive anymore
Mind had gone brittle in the wind, now it was just the body's turn

No longer deserving the acknowledgment
Of life
It wanted to return to its truth
Which was simply blank

5:03 PM
Locking gazes with the truth
Making peace with the imminent
Stepping down from what already was disintegrating

No
No
no
n
o

5:05 PM 
Time of death

Until
She appeared
Draped in clouds
Drenched in by the sky
Dazzled with the stars
She placed one hand on the moon and lifted the other down for him

Her hands showed great wisdom, great practice, great generosity
But her eyes showed great concern
Her lips did not move, yet she spoke
A string of vibration passed between them

With just a single current
He could feel again
relief flooded every inner channel
At the wave of ecstatic remorse

with that, she cut the string 
And he returned to the gift of consciousness

6:11 PM
I exist.

madeleinec0

VT

19 years old

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