The Gift of Time

Provided by Imelda Hughes

By Imelda Hughes, April 2020

The Gift of Time

The sun rises, the sun sets,

wars have ceased, the earth is at rest,

the thrush’s song at dawn is clearer,

the air is purer, fields are greener.

Across the world a virus has swept

with lightning speed, causing mayhem and death,

bewilderment, sorrow, mourning and yet,

the sun rises, the sun sets

on a world brought to its knees,

as the enemy has divided the chaff from the wheat,

chastened, equalled the rich and the poor,

exalted the wise, called the bluster of fools.

As the global economy grinds to a halt,

good people everywhere have answered the call

to be brave, to be generous, to give of their best,

as the sun rises, the sun sets.

Altruism, patience, kindness of heart

unites us in a world now torn apart,

we must all be pro-active in this prolonged war,

generals, front-liners, foot-soldiers, all.

The sun rises, the sun sets

on our little lives, changing from one day to the next,

but that which is constant, we can make sublime

by using it well, the great gift of time.