Father Time

I’d like to sue Father Time,

he runs a pace unsteady.

I move fast, not my prime,

and yet I’m not ready.

Waiting five minutes, as I seethe,

watch secondhand tick, tock, ticking—

five minutes time blinks as I breathe.

A slow motion countdown clicking.

Needing another five minutes, then,

I read news, avoiding a sticky wicket.

Surprise, what felt like five was really ten.

Time needed a tock-tick-tock, ticket.

There was a time all days were play—

hopscotch, dancing in the breeze,

racing friends on an imaginary roadway,

climbing high in tall, thick branched trees.

Days turned to labor and exhaustion,

workdays dragged slow, felt like pain,

until time ticked day-off expectation.

Abracadabra—too soon—day one, again.

I blinked, and now am walking slow.

I haven’t got a clue, it all went by too fast.

I wonder, “Where did the time go?”

Who do I call to sue Father Times passed?

I need to rewind minutes of the past.

Who do I talk to about the crime,

to replay days that time didn’t last.

Caused confusion of tock-ticked time?

Or is a lifetime of wisdom only illusion?

I walked by a tree-climbing tree,

outstretched arms invite the conclusion.

I’d like to sue Father Time and be free.

Many days race, at my new pace, now I see,

if I catch Father Time, I need to say gladly,

“Days of joy, no crime. I was being me.”

We finally might reach a timeless reality.

April Ryan is a retired Seattle Metro driver and an actively working writer/poet.

SHARING STORIES is a weekly column for and about the 50 plus crowd living in the Puget Sound region. Send your stories and photos to ariele@comcast.net. Tell local or personal stories; discuss concerns around aging and other issues; share solutions, good luck, and reasons to celebrate; poems are fine too. Pieces may be edited or excerpted. We reserve the right to select among pieces. Photos are always a plus and a one-sentence bio is requested (where you live, maybe age or career, retired status, etc.).

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