Time, the cocoon enveloping our lives
Enmeshed in its horizon we fail
To detect its viscous opacity
Trapped in its amber we harden
Our limbs like stick insects
Groping the dark
Memory in the once
Limber joints
Lies merciless in ambush
As the Dura Mater whips
Blood from the brain
To the heart, the plaque
Of words and ghosts
Sticks to the artery
Silencing the mouth
Throwing wide open the gates
To past and present rivulets
Undauntedly merging.
Pina Piccolo, Fall equinox 2023
Cover image by Engin Akyurt