The Hourglass

A poem about the connection and meaning I hold with my mom

Two glass bulbs connected as one,

Vertically attuned to an oddity of perfection,

Though both bulbs hold no such description, 

And yet as we look at the lining of gold that shapes its form,

We see beyond the broken a mirror unblemished.

What is the purpose of an hourglass? What does it do? 

It is a tool to measure the passage of time,

The flow between one hour to the next,

We look upon it as a means of aspiration,

Aspiration in the sense of drawing a breath.

They see it as a tool yet I see it as a mirror,

A reflection, time, convergence,

I see the two bulbs as two people, 

I see the sand ending when the first bulb and starting with the second,

I see one future then I see another, 

I see one life and the other. 

I see the top bulb as my mother,

And the bottom bulb as me, 

She defines the past and though her sand has yet to end,

It flows through the cracks of that vertical connection,

Into my bowl below. 

As I see the top bulb as her,

I symbolize the sand as her experience - her hardships,

With each grain is a lesson that must be learned,

An event that must be remembered, 

An emotion that you mustn't forget. 

Each grain is a tear, 

Each grain is a smile,

Each grain is her frustration - her irritation,

Each grain is a prayer whether unspoken or expressed, 

Each grain is pain that haunts her, 

Each grain is a desire unfulfilled or filled. 

It is her story - Her memories, 

It is her essence that she gives to me, 

It is her role to guide me, 

It is not just some sand to tell time, 

But sand to correct it.

She gives to me her mistakes so that I won't make them,

She shows me her pain to show me what to avoid,

And though the hourglass may seem like a tool of time ,

It is an unwavering connection,

As she gives me her past - I will give her a future. 

When the hourglass is flipped it will be I giving her the sand,

No more will she feel worried or stressed,

No more will she need to cry,

No more will she be forced to put on a facade of strength, 

No more will she need to shoulder the world. 

My sand will offer her freedom and happiness,

It will give her security and reassurance,

If she cries it will be out of happiness,

If she is ill it will be due to natural causes,

If she needs something I'll only be a call away,

And when her time passes, 

I'll be there all the same. 

-Broken Desires 

Reviews

[Tomás Ó C..]

Very nice, the flow of life from one generation to the next...

[Desiree O'Neal]

Awe this was really well down and thought out, I can tell. Your an amazing writer. This was was really good.