Seized with a sudden desperation to hold this moment as close as I could,
to freeze it in time,
to protect it from the slow crawl of inevitability,
I closed my eyes.
      I barely allowed myself to breathe,
Scared to let the effervescent moment pop.
I wanted to cling to it, protect it, cherish it,
like a child cherishes a bubble,
for a moment so enraptured by its existence that they forget that it isn’t meant to last.
      But it’s over now,
and my eyes are open.