Our lives are delicately finite
we have so little time
not one of us
is guaranteed another tomorrow
and no matter how many times
the earth may spin on its axis
or revolve around the sun
the truth is
all we ever have is today

one long moment
one small breath of eternity
we are here
we are gone

photographs frozen in time
falling like leafs caught in the wind
all in this brief glimpse
of the ever after
happening all
in the here and now

insects trapped in amber
children building sandcastles
too close to the waves
fools setting clocks
trying to measure the time
when time cannot be set
or measured

our hearts are so fragile
a dangerous thing
to find beauty in
and if there is not
beauty in our hearts
there will be no beauty
in our lives

and what is more beautiful
in our hearts
than its ability to love
its natural calling to dream
to long
to hope

our hearts may beat in our chest
but our hearts also live
in the pulse of infinity
rise and set over
the horizon of forevermore

the one thing in our life
that is not brief
not short
is the love we can create
for each other
for our selves
for the world around us

this dangerous
this delicate
this beautiful world

though it is not always
so beautiful
not this world
not our hearts

as we often forget
how delicately finite our lives are

how wasteful we become
with the moment
when we forget
that they are so few
that we forget
that they are precious trinkets
that can wither
rust
fade away
in the blinking of our eyes
if not tended to
if not remembered
that they can only stay young
in the memories of our hearts

how careless we become
with the love in our hearts
that we let it sit still
that we leave it to stagnate
that we forget to share in it
live in it
that we forget we have more
we can create
always
beating in our hearts

forgetting is something
we must always be conscious
to remember not to do

for when the end comes
when life meets death
on the sidewalk
where we come to an end

it will be on a day like today
because in all truth
today is all we will ever have