Metronome

Coreopsis, unlike Thanatopsis, 
a yellow flower
referred to as tickweed by some,
comes in a variety of forms
and hangs its blooms
on stems thin as picture wire.

Goldfinches come to inquire
if seeds are ripe, 
swing back and forth on these stems:
tick tock, tick tock,
each swing a measure of time.

And then time flies:
a sprite all but weightless in air
that has no home
except where it rests overnight.
Its life is light,
passed off in a sequence of moments.

It is never found dead, 
just disappears
like a snowflake, a raindrop, 
or wish.

An image that once was alive
may depart our lives,
but memory tick-tocks  
in the air.