And now
that time has passed
and this one is here

And this
and this

So? How did it go?

Did you live every minute?
Or did you let a few skitter past
on small wheels of worry
without squeezing out
the last, juicy bits?

What about this quiet hour?
This hazy afternoon?
This sinkful of dishes,
this quick pee,
this run to the mailbox,
this trip to the 7-11
for eggs
and M&Ms?

Did you live those, too?
Did you live every bit of them?

Some day,
if we are very, very lucky,
we will look back
from rockers on porches,
from benches on seasides,
from beds on wheels,
from our own two rickety feet
at those nothing moments
with such wistfulness
and fury
it would stop those young people
scooting around on their thought-cycles
dead in their tracks.

Never wish a moment
past the next one.

Never a better place to be
than this very one.

Never a guarantee
of any other one

after this one...

xxx
c

Image by Vincepal via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.