At Sunset

My apologies for the brevity this week.  The past week has had me thinking heavily of the end of life, and what there is to show for our lives, and I’m struggling to translate these thoughts and feelings to coherent words.  My grandfather is in his last weeks with us, having spent 2 years without his wife.  Witnessing her decline leading to her death 2 years ago, and now watching his, I’ve been quite pensive and, in a lot of ways, overwhelmed.  From all of these feelings, as I’ve worked on processing and again accepting the reality of our mortality, I felt drawn back to poetry, and drafted up the following free verse.  I’m definitely rusty when it comes to poetry, but after a few rounds of editing, I’m fairly happy with how it came out.

At Sunset

You may not notice the passage of time
especially if you never look up.
You may never notice the beauty
of the sunrise, the spotlight of a sunburst,
or the artwork of the clouds,

You may occupy every waking moment,
preparing for the sleep that comes at nightfall.
You may have worked from first light,
dripping in sweat in the endless midday,
planning to enjoy yourself “later,”

Fervently intending to restfully enjoy
daylight’s definitive masterpiece,
confident in your course, when
you reach day’s end

energy fading like the afterglow
of a flashbulb, you rest,
facing the direction you believe
is best, finding an underwhelming view.
You struggle to comprehend

the awe and lively exclamations of joy
from others. Are you facing east? Perhaps
the echoes of your toils distract,
blocking the horizon from view.
Inevitably, the light fades

And, in that moment, the twilight
lasts forever. As the dark of night prevails,
you know you may have missed it all
in the blink of an eye.