The veils of time grow thinner
with the passing years,
mending old wounds
and giving way to new ones.

I find that I now greet you with the embrace
of an old friend accustomed to your visits.
You bring with you all the memories
I didn't think to keep in my youth,
therefore binding me to you.

Your kindness reveals itself
in moments when the whole world
seems to have stopped in my pain,
and the only comfort I can find
is in your promise that all that is made shall fade.

And yet your cruelty unmasks itself as ruthlessly,
echoing every present moment of laughter with the innocent
laughter of my youth,
reminding me that nothing I have is for me to keep,
anything worth having is better off freed.

I have made and lost friends, homes and lovers
with only you at my side as a constant.
Yet I grow ever more aware of your shadow
slowly weighing itself upon me
as if you are afraid I would ever know
what it is like to be without you.

With each breath I learn to live with you,
that perforce,
I might more willingly embrace death,
and courageously wear these hidden scars bearing
the memories of mortal wounds.

Inasmuch as your existence has robbed me of time's treasures,
I gladly allow your presence to wash over me
keeping me mindful of the ease
with which this world of illusions can consume me
and drown me in the abyss of self breeding
nothing but endless desire and heartbreak.

Sweet, sweet Impermanence,
the world is lightened by your presence.

How else could the earth withstand
the weight of the myriad of broken hearts
buried within her womb?