“the vast ocean of time
into which everything
is eventually absorbed”^

But Now is our time
of gathering what shines
from the stream of memory,

smooth stones gleaming
with river water,
sifted hand to hand

and tucked deep
in blue jeans pockets,
carried home

for nights when 
we need to hold their light
in the darkness. 

*Robert Burns, Auld Lang Syne

^“Sasha and Zamani, and Three Deaths”