But a moment

Things can change in a day they say.
In a minute. At a moment's notice.
A lifetime can pack up its suitcases
and leave slinking through the back alleys
and side doors when the mind takes up arms.
Mortars and shells are going to
tumble through the sky soon
like firecrackers, like falling stars
that make careless wishes come true.
Things can change in a day
in the tip of an hourglass, they say.
And so yesterday you were you
but today I am feeding your pieces
to the roaring fire in the hearth.
I am wrapping you in clear plastic
and like a polythene pharaoh
feeding you to the waiting-mouth-open earth.