How to capture a day

A poem for the end of things.

Stalk the sunrise with a pocketknife
slice the low red sun. 
Blend chemicals and bind flower and branch 
to paper that has teeth. 
Let the church drums and doves
sing your art to sleep there is not time,

there is not time 
to count mauve bougainvillea petals
or slip under the lake’s surface
or chase another spirit up another hill
no day bends to human …