As winter fades and spring emerges,
Where did the time go?
It feels like just yesterday
we were bundled up against the cold,
digging out of the snow and ice.
Now, the days are getting longer,
and the air feels warmer.
the changing of the seasons
and how their circular renewal
contains within them a kind of finality.
Winter is over—
this last winter is over forever.
Those cold winter afternoons
when you didn’t want to go outside?
When you didn’t want to do much of anything?
When instead, you waited
for the temperature to go up,
you binge-watched some shows,
you doomscrolled the news or social media?
You weren’t killing time…that was time killing you.
death is not this thing in the future,
but something that is happening now.
It is always happening.
It is the ticking hand of the clock.
It is the spring flowers.
It is the fall harvest.
It is the summer rain.
It is the first snow of the year.
it is the first flower
in a cemetery.