Don’t Waste It

I couldn’t feel joy, there
in the moment
where I waited, frozen
like a fly in amber
where I hung, immobile
and the wall rose up —
a new barrier,

I crashed against it, reeling
looking back to a past
that was lost, until
I finally began
the long journey around it

then found, to my surprise,
a new joy, rising
revealing the seconds of my life
as tiny points of light
embers, swirling around
rushing past then going dark
one by one by one

time smells like the end of autumn
when the sting of winter
is carried into my lungs
each breath offering
a sharp promise of snow