A Moment, Not a Life

 I've seen the sun in golden rise,

And watched it fade from silver skies.

Joy has kissed me, quick then gone,

Like morning dew at break of dawn.

 

I've held the weight of bitter days,

And walked through storms in silent haze.

Yet pain, like joy, did not remain

Both took their turn, like sun and rain.

 

Now older hands, more still than fast,

Have learned no present moment lasts.

Not bliss, nor grief, can ever stay

They're guests that come, then walk away.

 

So I don't chase the fleeting cheer,

Nor sink too deep in shadowed fear.

I sip the wine, I feel the breeze

Each breath, a gift, a gentle ease.

 

For life is not what we can keep,

But how we wake, and how we sleep.

Each moment's pulse - a quiet flame -

Not to be drowned, but to be named.