Beginnings and Starts

A beginning and start
Are miles apart 
Although they imply similar things

Because a beginning and start 
Are different at heart
And different things they will bring

A start must end
That’s the difference my friend
And when it’s finished it’s all good and done

But a beginning continues
’Til all of the sinews
Are entwined with the things that have come

A clock- that starts 
So do years and hearts
Because one day they’ll come to an end

But a book - that begins
As do journeys and friends
These things soldier on

When they ought to be gone
They linger in thought,
In soul
And, in short
They stay with you right through to the end

When the clock’s final tock
Brings the world to a stop
And old age takes hold of the heart

Those things that we keep
That make our heart leap
Won’t have ever begun with a start