the moments lost

there is enough time for the laundry and the dishes
for the sheets to be changed and the
dinner to burn

enough time for the next cup of tea
the keyboard waiting
the words left untyped
enough time for the store
the car wash
the bank

but this time with you
will drag like forever and be lost
in an instant

my lids will shut and that moment
you asked me tear myself away
will be gone
and you will be a grown woman
with her own babies
and I will cry when I hear cat stevens croon
about cats in the cradle
and wish I had said yes to that game of yahtzee
or that walk or that
cuddle on the couch

but I was too busy
too busy wiping the counters
sweeping the dust
writing the word
folding the towels
too busy to hold you

soon the day will come when you no longer
fit neatly into the space of my lap
it will be the day I finally free my schedule of all these things
that keep me whirling like a dervish

I will sit down to hold you
but you will no longer fit
and the floors and dishes will be clean
the tea hot
the house quiet

and all that time that seemed like enough
will stretch out like forever and fit on a pin
like a white page filled with
the moments
lost