Days and Years (or: The Photo Album)

the days are long
but the years are short

that is what they said to me

(that is what i say
to myself)

one by one
i place the days
into the months
of this past year

(such a tiny fraction
of my own life)

but i remember
placing the minutes
into the hours
of those days

(since you first drew breath)

and they were an endless chain