approaching: gently

How do we approach

the presence of time past and time future

of the before and the coming

the here and the after?

(Approach gently,

while singing,

softly.)

what posture do you take

when staring at the darkness

when startling at finding yourself in the moonlight

though you can not see.

what shape do you make

(can one possibly create?)

when you know his breathing is so shallow

a life is but a comma

or was it a period

that struck the right note at the wrong time

a question mark

rising against the shining sun.

what was more surprising

that he thinks he is dying

or that you are, somehow, still living

despite all the attempts

at shadow-dancing

cave-hiding and rocket-busting

when that other (pompous, ridiculous, well-paid) one

suggested the important things in life:

mortgages careers papers degrees

you thought

of him wheezing coughing bleeding:

struck by the fallacy of it all.

even the pale light of evening.

we (who) live our lives in twilight

despite an abundance of hot summer days

when as now

the world rushes -

and you - sitting.

gazing.

lost.

or found?

what do i say

to such a man

as one caught

between too many different lives?

and I (freshly feminine),

hardly free myself

from the bonds of undoing.

hold on. let go

keep breathing

no need to doubt

the curve of the earth

or that your time too soon

will arrive:

falling.

How do we approach

the presence of time past and time future

the before and the coming

the here and the after?

gently.

no need for words just

breathing.

singing

softly.