May 26, 2021

I use the phrase "there's a week of my life I'll never get back" frequently (the time frame can obviously change per context). I uttered it Monday night when I learned that some forms I had been working on diligently would no longer be required.  Then later I got caught up in silly memories from my teenage years and I realized that those also are weeks of my life I can't get back.  I know of what I speak: remember I have spent 10 days in ice, two weeks with a feeding tube, and about a month in the hospital to be able to reflect on lost weeks. I owe it to the people sitting and praying by various bedsides through that time.

The Weeks I Can't Get Back 

Stolen by bureaucracy,

Pilfered by the pinheads,

Stuffed shirts and self-important,

Those who see a clock in passing

As something of trifle,

Those weeks I can't get back,

When work went for wont

Falls weakly to the wayside

To be lamented at the bedside

At a time the clock will stop.

-------------------------------

Treasured in what seemed normalcy,

Captained by our immaturity,

Lack of urgency, general naivety,

Those who saw days in passing

As something endless,

Those weeks I can't get back,

When play went for want

Lodges firmly in the memory

To be comforted for the bedside

At a time the days will end.