the brevity of levity

“A great many people who spend their time mourning over the brevity of life
could make it seem longer if they did a little more work.”―Don Marquis

and another day
drinks the final second
of the final minute
of its final hour.
children once, at play;
feebly have they beckoned,
worn by time's brief habit
torn by life's fleet lure.

and another night
sips the vast horizon
as its mired evening
shuts its tired eyes.
was it worth the fight
to repel the poison
of a stark beginning,
where hope blooms and dies

like a stillborn birth?
all my years are wasted,
if i move no mountain,
if i stir no truth
to redeem the earth,
whose soft breasts i've tasted
like a living fountain,
brimming at my mouth.

and another life
meets another dying,
as another angel
scripts the final word.
lethal, death's cold knife
to the souls left crying,
who, in silence, marvel:
death himself interred!

© Copyright 2022 October 27
by Clyve A. Bowen♫