sweetness & light

so much beauty is
   never photographed be
      cause we imagine
   beauty
lasts.

so many loving words
   are never spoken be
      cause we believe
   there is always
time.

why can’t we walk
   the grassy fields
      with the golden
   dog
forever?

or leap through the
   clear air like a
      jaguar to catch a
frisbee?

must our hearts be
   locked in solitary
      chests as
   though we were
prisoners––

   so alone?

this is not a bruegel
   painting where we can
      snooze next to the
   haystack or dance with

   the jolly village folk in frozen
time.   

does it all come
   down to remembering? murmured
      wishes between friends,
   shy expectations &
departures?

can this love be
   tween us last even
      after our guts dissipate
   into sleeping earth

   with spring
rain?

we never really leave
   our black-haired
      days & fresh-blue
   eyes
behind.

we read & learn
   & laugh at this
      vanishing world
   that won’t sit
still.

yet, we are one with the
   stillness & the
      light. our hearts
   grow ripe with

   sweetness over
time.

we know this moment
   cannot end, be
      banished to
forgetfulness.

we want to make things
   right, to keep old
      promises, to realize
   wished for
possibilities.

is there still time? there
   is more time
      than
   forever
else.

we do not grasp, we
   touch; we do not
      possess, we
   kiss; we do not own

   we
feel.

life flows
   through beating
      hearts & luscious
   days of twilight-dawning
love.

open or closed, the
   eyes
      see. living or
   dead, the soul
breathes.