That Ten Minutes

In that ten minutes
When you're all by yourself
In the woods, 'round the trees
And there's silence about
And suddenly there's noise
But it's soft and it's sad
And it's singing
Without tune, without beat
But it's singing

And in that ten minutes
All else is just gone
But the here and the now
But it's neither here nor now
It's just This

When the trees all start speaking
With crackings and creakings
Up above, where they wave, all in time
And the clouds are swept by
So close and so high
And just that ten minutes
They promise sunshine

And there's so much going on
But for once, you don't mind
Because now it's all there to be seen
And the wind slides along your skin
So cold that it burns
But for once, it's alright
In that ten minutes

And in that ten minutes
All else is just gone
But the here and the now
But it's neither here nor now
It's just This

And the sun and the shadow
Both stand vibrant and shallow
And tint all they touch with a hue
And you gather it all
But still let it all fall
Knocked by each passing second
That doesn't, for you

And it's gotten much colder
Since when this began
And you feel like you want to go in
But unreality pushes you back
Because then you'd be missing this Now
And you know that by staying
You're calling for death
Because the sting of the cold is too painful to bear
But by leaving, you're losing the sights and the sounds
Of just that next ten minutes

And the worry's so deep
That the minutes don't keep
And you're losing your grip on ten minutes
So you run back inside
Because you can't abide
The loss of those ten minutes' finish

And in that ten minutes
All else was just gone
But the there and the then
But it was neither there nor then
It was just That

In that ten minutes