The Ruler

I cannot escape time—   

Like an airtight bubble   

It encloses me                

Forcing me to submit  

Within its bonds          

No chance of release   

I live a wary life

Guarding the morsel of days

Granted by the sovereign ruler

At last I will be free  

from its bondage

when I slip away 

from this existence 

and return to dust 

Yet even then

it governs my remnants 

slowly eroding the elements

that once belonged to me  

for nothing escapes its command

By Shih-Fang Wang

From: United States