The Second Hand
By Don Iannone

My wristwatch,
probably like yours,
has a second hand.
It goes round and round
the face of time,
cutting through nothingness,
creating and destroying the moments
with each clockwise tick.
I bill by the hour,
but live breath to breath,
like the second hand of my watch.

We worry too much about time.
It robs us of living...
downright cheats us out of life
that moves not only clockwise,
but in all directions simultaneously.
Your soul is timeless...
it knows nothing of your watch's second hand.
Listen!
Your soul is laughing at your obsession with time,
and what you miss between ticks
of your watch's second hand.

Sifting Sand
By Don Iannone

Life sifts
...like sand
...through open outstretched fingers.
No hourglass to contain it.
No beach providing a gestalt.

We play with it
...like some game
...we can win.

Don't bother tying up loose ends...
all ends are loose.
Just let it flow through you
...and wash you up on shore.
Celebrate wherever you are...
you're dead if you don't.

It fills us...
only to empty us
...spilling us on the floor
...abandoning our hope
...leaving us bare
...rubbed raw
...and finally...
just leaving us.