Maria Arana’s most recent poem to appear here was “Stop to Think” (April 2017)

A Passing Time
By Maria Arana

Whose time shall I enforce?
A sparrow’s call to arms
              or the tiger’s swift reply?

Whose time comes before the sun
              and forages between the grass blades?
A clever bug
              or a squirming thing?

Ah! But it is that
             very thing which has no name
                         and lurks behind me,
Yet never touches me.

Whose time shall pass before I sleep?