Poesy: It's Been a Long Time, But It's One of Mine (Edition)

An unedited poem of mine. It needs work, but here goes anyway:

Fear

Baffled of the ephemeral Time and Space,

I shun them, laugh it off.

I avoid their glances and pretend the stars

are simply decoration, and a watch,
merely for appointment-keeping.

There is no comprehension,
only fear
at the enormity of a thing
able to swallow me up

and disappear into the universe,
small as a pebble, quiet as the wind.

Perhaps I am afraid it will bully me,

and call me names in my non-scienceness.

Leave me for dead on a planet exploding,

or left to drift ageless in lack of oxygen

through the black night forever cloaked in stars.

In truth and secret,
I revere it. From afar.

I add asterisks when not needed
and count seconds in velvet-toned sweetness,

lining them up in my pockets

where I can feel the edges of their numerals,
their infinite tick-tocking
against the pads of my fingers.

I place memories besides other memories

in visual remembrance of dates we spent together.

I watch my child grow quickly, time lengthening her feet

and the curls of her tri-colored hair.

Please don't forget me, Space and Time,

Please don't forsake my stuffed-language self.

I am a babe, an unversed scientist, a girl scared

of the immensity of the dark.

I respect your steel claws and physics
and hope, when the day comes,

you will treat me kindly.

- RPJ