One step forward

and two steps back

is how we seem to go.

move in time or

slide, swing, shake:

take it fast or

take it slow.

the world is reeling

in her coat of

oceans land and sea.

it isn’t how we

sleep that counts,

it’s how we

run and breathe.

take my hand

and step in time

to the mantra

that she hums:

we are the world,

we move as one,

and–inevitably–

death comes.