this is death

this is the black
of the black and white

this is the sound after the last song
this is the racetrack after the racers have left
this is the pencil resting next to a finished
masterpiece

this is your feet
this is your hand
this is your sweat
this is your face

this is your tired rest
this is your comforting grasp
this is your release
this is you

this is a book sealed shut with the eons of never being opened
this is a mind sealed shut with the steel locks keeping the eons
out

this is you in your greatest moment
this is you in your worst moment

you’ve already done the best thing in your life
you did it yesterday as you sat on the toilet,
or as you laid in bed sick,
or you read a book,
or you kept a secret,
or you told a secret

you will never be as good as you were a moment ago
and this will continue for the entirety of your life
but you never faultier
you well never fail
you will grow greater and greater every minute
even as your better self slips away into the past

this is your feet worn to the bone
this is your hand dirtied with time
this is your sweat hot with your effort
this is your face smiling in regret

this is the bird flying home to its nest
this is the car that drives past an accident
this is the artist laughing for the first time
in years

this is the white
of the black and white

this is life