Holding On And Letting Go

Thus men will lie on their backs, talking about the fall of man, and never make an effort to get up. - Thoreau

standing on the edge of a condensed eternity

he looked down reluctantly and let go

falling

passing by fleeting glimpses of his life

seeing himself in unedited scenes

his first bicycle ride without training wheels

standing in the corner in the dark at the sixth grade dance while stairway to heaven played, afraid to slow-dance with a girl

his first job

his first kiss

all the close calls and the near miss

holding a rifle in the service and being ordered to kill

the jingle of the keys to his first house in his pocket

standing in a tuxedo in church and saying, "i do"

things forgotten and people he once knew

holding his newborn, swaddled sons

feelings and emotions on the run

looking into his father's failing eyes as he gave up the ghost

and letting go of his frail, dying mother's hand, the two who meant the most

reaching the bottom, these times now gone

he lifted the arm of his heart, offering a toast

before he got up, looked up and moved on

Author's Note

"Measure by man's desires, he cannot live long enough; measure by his good deeds, and he has not lived long enough; measure by his evil deeds, and he has lived too long. Live and let live is not enough; live and help live is not too much. To live is to function." - Thoreau