Every second on the clock I learn
A second’s more something.
Even asleep dreams tick
Their teachings to me,
Reassembling information accrued
Through years, mixing new
Combinations to offer experiences
In other lights – all a part of my
Twenty-four-hour-a-day education.
And what does it all add up to –
Or subtract down to?
Why it’s time gifting me
Larger and larger data leaks,
my memory having more chances
To leak more information
The older I get,
As those gray cells
Hold hands in a looser way
Mimicking less and less a steel trap
Than a well-holed sieve.
And they’ve not invented yet
A game or puzzle exercise
To stem that mounting loss,
No supplement or medication
To draw those retreating gray cells
Back together again to hold
The breach and turn back the clock.
And even if the clock could be stopped,
There’d never be enough time left
To recover all the knowledge that I’ve lost,
Whatever wisdom gained
Draining away too fast.
* * *
Note: This is my rough draft for Monday 01.15.24
Lanning Lee 