When things happen
that shake us to our core
                time stops
             we age—
         we grow stagnant

cardinals become caged mid-flap
in a world of stillness,
though the heat of summer climbs
the stove dials,

and though we try to push
                                         pull
                                       tug
                                         pry
                            the hands
                 of the clock,
  we are frozen as arctic glaciers
       in the moment of our undoing.