Mono No Aware

The noise of ticking
Penetrates the room
You open your eyes to
The clock’s display
Of hour and minute, and seconds
That race like scudding clouds
The first law is the hardest
Though with change
There is the possibility of a new you,
A better you,
Rising from sleep--
But thoughts of morphing from flesh to bone
Shifting from world to world
Or to the void
Makes you close your eyes
And try to sleep again
To stop the ticking,
The relentless seconds,
The scudding clouds

The coach moves furiously on wheels
Turned by horses lashed to speed
En route to the new city--
An escape to novel amusements
Evasion from the rattling coach
Gaining from behind--
The heavy sun descending
Spurs the lash
But bridles the driver