I’m up before the sun

From where I sit I see the sky change colors

Just outside the bathroom window

I come alive as the dark and light merge

My life is like a TV show

On repeat

A faint melody in the background sounds like a dirge

For the next 12 hours, I’m on my feet

Walking, running, lifting, talking, computing, commuting

As the sun hangs

I try to do everything

But when it sinks I start to wonder what I’ve been doing

How many times will the days repeat

Today I visited the house where I grew up

I see the effects of erosion on the beach

My childhood trinkets are condensed to a box of stuff

My father’s hood slipped back, his hair was all white

For the first time in my life

The old dogs are gone but at least there’s a new one

The kids on the corner are the next generation

The bay oaks bend

Am I on an island

Watching the sky turn pink

As the sun, as my life as I know it, sinks

I look at my husband, my dog, God

I ponder the time left

A day, a tide, a season

Life is but a handbreadth