These beasts

swinging shimmer of
burnished blade
against the fading straw
when green retreats
back into the soiled bosom
leaving gold in its wake

the swinging shimmer only
thirsts for gold
and licks its lips when
slicing through all
the gold it can while
the sun remains
trotting through the blue

the two fearsome beasts
are the wielders of this blade
they watch so patiently
and bide in vigilance
in the raptor feathers above
in anxious claws and
piercing beak they wait

the pair of fearsome beasts
revel in the numbers
that accumulate and grow
numbers are their forks,
their spoons and knives
to use to feast on mortal lives

swinging shimmer of
the clock's pendulum
it devours the seconds
then minutes, then hours
if one of these fearsome beasts
won't steal your day
then it will take your breath
these beasts of time and death