Stone Soup

Where young artists paint the world with words

The international magazine of stories, poems, and art by young writers and artists. Published continuously since 1973.

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Time

Nobody knows what time is.
Time stretches everywhere
at different speeds, in peculiar shapes.

In space, time expands with the universe.
The speed of light is time—
we just can’t see it.

Soaring, vibrating, flashing,
time can escape on feathered wings.
Time has a mind of its own; it has a reason
for what it chooses to do.

On Earth, time slinks away
when we don’t pay attention.
Time is valuable, a privilege to have.

People say they can tell time
looking at clocks.
But we don’t really know if that’s time.
What is time to infinity?

The movement of time ripples through space,
connecting with other planets,
speeding up and slowing down,
expanding and contracting.

Time came from the beginning of life
and it will move on, sweeping
humans, animals, living beings with it.

In the end, the only thing we
really need to know about time
is what we do with it.

Sofie-Dardzinski
Sofie Dardzinski, 9
Potomac, MD