Moment of Perfection - Poem #30

toritto

I don’t recall which day it was
of the thousands I have lived
when I realized that nothing lasts
and what a shame it was
that perfection is for just a moment
before the downward slope begins.

I don’t know when that moment was
when the world was mine
and you were mine
and all would last tomorrow and tomorrow
and I was at my height

for just a moment, then it passed
unrealized ‘till looking back
that nothing lasts forever

The sun is lower now
the days numbered, the shadows darker
as options fade to become commands;
no longer so distant the flashing red
above the exit door.

“All your problems can be solved
it you will just give up the ghost!
Your arms are sagging flesh
teeth in a glass!
Can fantasies still stir the root cellar?
Do you hear the dulcet tones of Gabriel’s trumpet?”

No.
I will not go gentle through the portal
into that good night.
I will warm my face in the September sun, smiling
while searching the memories of all my days
for that moment when all was perfect.