5/30 POEM FOR AURORA

(for my mother)

If we could hold on to forever,

feed on the flesh and strip the bones

of mortality like a bird of prey.

With but a wish, a sincere prayer,

rebuke into retreat, drive back

the years and tears forever into defeat.

But for now the gargoyle of transition gawks,

a calculating hawk, waits to sink its greedy talons

into human flesh, form bonds with skeletons

and bones from newly born.

© G Newton V Chance