Floating Past

  the fallen kaleidoscope of once-dead life
     floats silently past--
      wrinkles in a placid reflection,
       seeking the final, unhurried
        gasp of dusk.
  refusing the despair of a changed form
   and smiling in mockery at the sighs
     of a time lost but not forgotten . . .
   patience learned in the long passings
     of cycles rehearsed,
       tutoring our sullen now
    with invitations to a spring's soft mist . . .