Wheel of time

The harsh calls of a raven

echo off the walls of a red desert cliff

Below, a large juniper, gnarled with age

leans beside a creosote bush in yellow bloom

Littering the ground are discarded remnants

paper and plastic in various stages of decay

black trash bags ripped and spilling

a broken door, crushed video cassettes

a cardboard box, a red stuffed bear, limbs akimbo

Tiny, chittering birds flit through the juniper tree

picking off even tinier insects hidden there

A gentle calm pervades

Somewhere

a blind woman walks with a cane

a potter is at work with clay

Somewhere

a star explodes, a galaxy forms

a young man kneels to pray

Somewhere

a child falls down and cries

a woman quietly sings

Somewhere

a dog is drinking from the gutter

a thunderstorm brings rain

Somewhere

a couple conceives

a woman gives birth

a corpse is laid in the ground

Nothing lasts—all forms perish

Time is a wheel, turning

no beginning no end

While at its center is perfect stillness

©2023 Clelia Vahni Lewis

Denise Incao, Wheel of Time - Ceramic, Found Objects, Mixed Media