Minutes

By Ashleigh hatter

A million minutes of my life
have been spent
have been wasted pining for vice.

A hundred thousand minutes more
saw me there
saw me languishing in remorse

Tens of thousands of minutes by
out they flew
out they left – ran – from my life

Thousands – yes thousands – minutes though
In the quiet
In the moments when I was low

  In those moments when a star shone bright
  When the day began to crest
  When a fire in my breast began to burn again in the cold
  When dead ashes had lain for years untouched
  In those moments, the sparking of hope!

Hundreds of minutes now gone by
spent in peace
spent in the Truth of a new life

Dozens of minutes, this I say
proud of it
proud of the peace I fought for and claimed

One minute, one minute just used
was it good
was it for the better or further abuse?

  The regret of such waste, of a life of squander
  Of burning my time, burning my chances can cast me down
  Into endless wonder, but when that happens I take a breath
  I think out loud and open my eyes and watch the Sun or the clouds
  And I strive to be something better, to use my minutes free of my past
  Then I soar from those chains into a fresh new world, where I might make a difference

with my minutes.