The Brink

What is
your life?

these few fiery moments
so alive
burnished with hope
gilded with fear
each breath
a comet in my lungs

the future
in the starting-block
my finger
trembling
on the trigger

I hesitate -
savoring
the furious delight
of the unknown
just
a little
long
er

because the present
is so promising
and the future is
so final

This is your life
standing
on the brink
(which is
to say,
on the edge of beyond)
alone
and shivering

oh! to swim!
to love
and fight
to be wrong and
to be right
and dance
with the waves
and drown
laughing

oh! to swim!
to swim and
to sink
down
to the dreary bottom
and rest
"full of days"
(as they used
to say)

today I vow
I will always treasure
the brink
and the beauty
of unfulfilled
dreams

for there is
no greater gift
than two clear eyes
and an endless
horizon... . . . . . . . . . . . .

Image courtesy of interfacelift.com