Fireworks explode in the distance
Cheers and toasts
Shared with friends, families, and strangers.
We laugh and sing
To celebrate the coming of a new year.
But how many of us are celebrating
For our last time?
How many will fall
Before the ball drops
In Times Square again?
What would change
If you knew you wouldn’t see it?

We live our lives
With a pretense
That death is far
From sewing us into the fabric of time,
But what if that final moment
Comes sooner than expected?
And what changes to your life
Would you make
To not allow yourself to fall
Into the mundaneness
Of everyday life
That you take for granted?

I guess there’s never a right time;
Maybe it’s always too soon.
Can we ever love life enough?--
All I know is that we can try.
After catching a glimpse of the sand falling
Of our hourglass’s bottom half growing fuller
We can only run from death so long,
So I’d rather spend my time
Making the world know,
Letting you know,
I existed,
And I cherished the time I had.

So will you remember that we existed,
And walk this path alongside,
Or will we be lost to the shoreline
For the waves to gather
Grains of sand
From our broken hourglass
To be lost in the crowd
Of sands of ancestors,
Pulled into oblivion
Without a wave of goodbye?