Of stars and sand and clouds

Of stars and sand and clouds.

The sand has trickled through the glass,
The time run out, the journey done.
Speckled with stars and gold-dust,
Tangled with skeins of fleeing clouds,
It now lies still, energy used up,
Memories buried beneath the drifts.

Was it only yesterday the glass was full
Of clean fresh sand; each grain a promise?
There seemed so much, so many hours to spend,
No cares, no urgency, no demands
To hold on to life and grasp it tight,
Or decide, or take responsibility.

Why did it run so fast? What has passed?
I hardly noticed the steady flow until
With a final flurry in settled still, all spent.
With only the stars and flecks of gold
And clouds to remind me of the places,
The times, the faces, the fears, the expectations.