In the sands of time ...



There are - stones 

(upon which we stumble)



There are pearls

(which we gather and string)



There are pebbles

(which get into our shoes)



There are slivers of glass

(which sometimes cut us)



There are pools of darkness

(which could be an oasis)



There are moments of awe



For the desert is bleak

For the ocean is vast



And sand is gritty



And yet - 

we admire



Its feel beneath our feet

The way it glistens in the sun

The way it spreads apart in the tide



When waves push in white crests

From a calm surface unending ...



The calmness upon which we float

As the sand constantly moves below



And the substances within it - 

... surge



As time ebbs and flows ... 

... so does sand



And as it brings up its treasures

So too - does time produce ... 

the chest ...



Christopher W. Thomas

6:35pm Wednesday 9/17/97