"Oh Times"

Oh times, how you slip away,

Like whispers in the dawn of day.

You march with the rhythm of an unseen drum,

Through valleys of memory, to the places we’ve come.

In your fleeting hands, we find the truth,

The cracks of youth, the scent of the roof

Where we once dreamed, under stars so bright,

Before the burden of dawn stole the night.

You carried our laughter, our love, our pain,

Through seasons of joy, through moments of rain.

With every sunrise, you birthed anew,

A world of wonder, a world askew.

Oh times, what mysteries you hide,

In the crevices of your relentless tide.

You teach us lessons, some bitter, some sweet,

And leave us with nothing but memories at our feet.

When we were young, you were a friend,

With no beginning, no middle, no end.

You were the moments that kissed our skin,

Like the soft breeze that whispered within.

In the golden days of our youthful flight,

You were the shadows that played with the light,

You were the laughter that filled the air,

The feeling of freedom, with no care.

But time, you change, you morph, you twist,

From a gentle companion to a clenched fist.

You take away the soft and sweet,

And leave behind the broken beat.

What happens when the years unfold,

And the stories of old become stories told?

Do you leave us to wonder, to question, to fight,

The echoes of days now lost in the night?

You grow like a storm on the horizon's edge,

A raging force, a silent pledge.

And though we beg for mercy, for a pause, for a rest,

You march onward, unrelenting in your quest.

Oh times, you show us the rise and fall,

Of civilizations, of kingdoms, of all.

You build us up, then tear us apart,

Leaving us with fragments of a broken heart.

The faces we loved fade into the gray,

The laughter, the warmth, all slip away.

The hands we held, now turned to dust,

The promises we made, now just rust.

You remind us of the things we’ve lost,

The bridges burned, the love that’s tossed.

You show us the price of every choice,

The silence that follows the once loud voice.

Yet, even in your cruelest state,

There’s a beauty we can’t quite hate.

For in the wreckage, in the sorrowed eyes,

We see the light of a thousand skies.

Oh times, you teach us to let go,

To walk through the fire and emerge aglow.

Though we mourn what we cannot save,

You push us forward, to dig, to brave.

Through the haze of tears, we catch our breath,

We find new dreams, we confront our death.

In your arms, we grow and we learn,

As you twist and turn, we still yearn.

Oh times, you are both cruel and kind,

A force unseen, yet always intertwined.

You move in circles, in lines, in waves,

From the cradle to the grave.

And still, we search for meaning, for grace,

In the fleeting minutes that we chase.

For though you flee, we reach for your thread,

Clinging to the memories, to the words we’ve said.

In your silence, we find our voice,

In your chaos, we make a choice.

You remind us of the fleeting hour,

Yet teach us of our greatest power.

For we are made of moments, of brief sparks,

Of the laughter, the tears, the endless marks.

You give us the chance to live, to see,

And in your fading light, we set ourselves free.

Oh times, you are a fleeting guest,

You teach us that none of us are blessed

With forever, with eternity’s hold,

But in your wake, we become bold.

We chase the days, we cling to the night,

We fight your passage, yet hold you tight.

For though you slip, like sand through our hands,

You shape us into who we are, who we’ll stand.

Oh times, you are a poem in motion,

A sea of waves, a river of emotion.

We try to capture you, to freeze your face,

But you are always beyond, always a race.

In the end, when we look back in time,

We find that the rhythm, the reason, the rhyme,

Was not in the chasing, the counting, the fear,

But in the living, the loving, the moments so dear.

Oh times, you are both our enemy and friend,

You are where we start, and where we end.

We cannot stop you, we cannot stall,

But in your passing, we stand tall.

For though you fade, you leave behind

A legacy, a story, a soul defined.

Oh times, you are a gift, a curse, a prayer,

In your fleeting presence, we find our share.

I hope this poem resonates with the essence of time, its fleeting yet profound nature. Let me know if you’d like any adjustments!