Time and Death

Time and Death

Ever since the dawn of days,
I’ve been unbiased, uncompromising.
I’ve watched people throw their lives away,
And others, for their dreams, keep striving.

The dying man counts me with dread,
The eager want to kill me.
I am to blame for all that’s dead,
I am the omnipotent enemy.

I’m measured by my face and hands,
The digits I display.
I’m sometimes read by grains of sand,
But I can be seen in other ways.

Spring, summer, fall, winter,
In degrees earned, dawns, and losses.
In sunsets, tears, as well as laughter,
By measurement, I remain lawless.

I govern the realm of the hollow men,
where reside the soulless vagabonds.
I am the darkness before the tunnel’s end,
And the light that lies beyond.