Lifetime
By Phyllis M. Jones
Children view time by how long
it takes to run the soccer field,
or when to board the school bus
on the corner of their street.
Overwhelmed by inordinate demands,
adolescents cry, “Give us space!”
meaning “cut the cord and change
the rules of the game.”

Anxious adults may rail,
“Time, you thief! We are struggling
to exist; put that on your list!”
Half realists, half mystery drawn,
poets liken time to gypsy life,
leaving clues to where they have been,
not always to where they are going.

Children grow older and wiser
learn that “time is the hunter,”
and the winners are those who
come away from hiding,
because there is so little time.

— Phyllis Jones lives in Lawrence. “Lifetime” appears as one of four featured poems among more than 200 in the 2004 edition of “The International Who’s Who in Poetry.” Poet’s Showcase features work by area poets. Submit your poetry via e-mail with a subject line of Poet’s Showcase to mpaget@ljworld.com or send typewritten (not handwritten) submissions to Mindie Paget, 645 N.H., Lawrence 66044, attn: Poet’s Showcase.