Was it ever really lost
or was it you
lost in your private thoughts
lost in your work
caught up in the net
of obligations
failing to note the ebbing
of the tide

We work at making time
as if it were
blueberry muffins
trouble or a joke
think of it like
a bank account that could
run out of funds
thanks to our spendthrift ways

We watch the sand fall
through the glass
as grain by grain
the hours and minutes
seem to slip away
watch the shadow
creep across the dial
tilting toward the sunset
of our days

Nothing is lost forever
nothing we've loved
a watchful mother
time finds us
where we hide
behind the garden wall
under the holly
and as darkness falls
she takes us back inside