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The owl, unseen, sweeps silent on the vole;

The cat sneaks up upon the baby bird;

The tied dog howls into the coming dawn;

The brown rat scutters darkly and unheard;

Each one happy, living in the now,

Oblivious to death which lurks unreckoned

A breath away, yet cannot terrify

Where minds are focussed only this second.

          But human minds fret endelessly between

          The faulted past and the furtive void

          Knowing failure cannot be restored

          Or coming challenges, by thought, ignored.

          So we endure the present as we are toyed

          By Time which does not care to intervene.

Brian Hick March 2012

©copyright Sally Hick 25.3.24