"Moments"

They say time is a gift
We take it
We use it
Sometimes we waste it
But ultimately the hours we claim
Are little more than the expressed testament
To gild past mistakes and moments
As memory.

They say love is powerful
We find it
We chase it
We desperately hold onto it
But ultimately the ferocity of our resolve
Cannot guarantee the certainty
Of its longevity
Because it comes and goes
Without discrimination.

They say death is inevitable
We fear it
We avoid it
We devote money and energy to abate it
But eventually it comes
In one form or another
And neither time nor love
Can dispel it the day
It finally decides
To take you.

If everything is this fleeting
If nothing can extend the duration
Of our time
Of true love
And before death
Then why do we soldier on
Awaiting meaning to life
And purpose to present
Forgiving mistakes in our past
And hoping for the future?

Because time is wonderful
Even fleeting
Even wasted
We choose how we spend it
And with whom
And if we're really lucky
We find people who make hours
Feel like seconds
And make us wish our seconds with them
Could become hours.

Love
Love is so encompassing
Such painful elation
A bursting interpretation
Of our desires laced with expectations
Our needs lacquered with fulfillment
The power rivals nature and transcends the metaphysical
Apt descriptions are little more than semblance of the actual
Which leaves peace only by recourse
Of giving up expressing what it is
And simply enjoying what it is
And that we have it.

There are then the two releases attributed to death
The moment it happens
And the moment we stop fearing it
Focusing instead on what the opposite gives
Ignoring the arrival of life's absence
Conquering what's life-taking is breathtaking
Freedom follows
Then beauty
Delivering more time and better love
Because when you place your attention on what life has in store
You are fully able to appreciate what's coming
And at that moment, you shape it
Claim it
And that's when you really start living

Death... It isn't the end.  It's eventuality.
Love... It isn't everything.  But it resides there.
Time... It isn't what's past us.  It's now and what lies ahead.

Take breaths
Laugh
Escape pain
Run
Grant yourself forgiveness
Wonder
Make the intangible, tangible

Death won't wait.  Love won't wait.  Time won't wait.

Start today.

M.C.K.
8/8/17