Stop—
Right there.
Turn your head,
spread your hair

Listen—
that’s the sound of your life,
past you
it passed you
it won and it’s waiting.

Let yourself be seized,
your features locked up in time

Thoughts and dreams—
dust particles escaping
in a flash of false illumination.
Are you startled?
They belong to the universe now

A mistake in the aperture,
a moment interrupting life’s pulse

Turn your head,
spread your hair
adjust your pose
and stretch your smile

What beauty will you etch
on time’s memory?