BEFORE THE MOMENT IS OVER
3 min read
BEFORE THE MOMENT IS OVER
A New Years Eve some years ago. The TV in one corner, PC in the other, separated from my lover, I oscillate between the two sources of information. My little ones were children who were suffering brain sten glioma… one of whom had just left and joined the angels.
(“My little ones” as I refer to them, were American children who were being treated at Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center in North Carolina. Most were suffering from inoperable brain tumors.)
Lest I forget…
The leaves are finally gone
And where green or brown once shone
Are now the random blocks of blue
Glimpses of every shape and hue
Between the bare and haggard wood
That even centuries has stood
And yet…
In some untimely fashion
She slides her arm around his waist.
A simple unplanned loving motion
Born of such innocent devotion.
But then…
Each moment – each infinitesimal moment
Is filled with unbelievable heartache
In shattered homes
All around the world.
I click on my Internet link
To read
how my ‘little ones’ are doing.
Whatever the mood of my luxurious and
Unfairly bounteous life,
These moments
Can be guaranteed
To pierce the armour of my brain
And switch on a pain in my heart.
My heartache is nothing compared
To what my fellow humans
Are suffering in their homes;
In hospitals,
In waiting rooms,
Or watching their children endure
From the dreaded letter ‘C’
And so…
Don’t they know
It is really just another day?
Crowded squares burst with expectation.
Couples await the hour side by side, hand in hand,
Stomachs tingling in anticipation
Of the midnight kiss their lips await.
I see…
He wears a crazy mad-hatter’s concoction.
And she a knitted woolen hat that
Squirts her curly hair around…
Garb to welcome in a notion
The skies are lit by demented pyrotechnics.
Explosions blast the ears and rock …
I am moved to tears just watching kisses in Times Square
As all hands are set perpendicular on the clock
And the camera catches infinitesimal moments
That cannot ever be relived in our puny reality
Moments constantly dispatched
Into the depths of my mind
Where all their colours are faded and only the
Light of Hope beams through the tiny gaps
That pain and suffering have gauged.
They kiss…
Despite my rushing here and there
In search of something never found –
Perpetually disappointed
By all the frippery and flotsam
My material desire acquires –
I feel the gentle touch of her lips
And savouring the moment clear
Feel my lips get torn from hers
As the moment is over.
© Griffonner 2023
About Post Author
I wrote the following on PoetBay, where the poem was first featured
I have come back to this – and that isn’t easy when so may poems drop off the page. And yes, I needed to read it again. What impresses me is how the initial easy rhyme sequence matures into a heartfelt reflection of how easy it is to identify with each others suffering; thanks Allen.
I do realise that this is a difficult poem to ‘get into’. I wish it weren’t so, but when I tweak it into another form I am never as happy as when it is as it is. What I wanted it to reflect was the multifaceted information world in which we live, yet at the same time try to illustrate what a weird notion it is that at midnight on this one day everything starts anew! If only!
Blessings
Allen
The last stanza resonates with me so much and i had to read it five times, i truly love your poems. So much emotions.
Despite my rushing here and there
In search of something never found –
Perpetually disappointed
By all the frippery and flotsam
My material desire acquires –
I feel the gentle touch of her lips
And savouring the moment clear
Feel my lips get torn from hers
As the moment is over.
Thank you, Joel, it is so nice to hear that you found this rewarding in some way, and I thank you too for your appreciation.
Blessings, Allen
i agree entirely with you allen the beauty of simple, intimate moments and the pain and suffering in the world are cherishable. The final lines, where you describe the gentle touch of her lips and then lose it, are particularly poignant and serve as a reminder that life is fragile and should be cherished. Overall, this is a well written and deeply moving piece that encourages readers to appreciate the beauty of life, even in the face of hardship. I appreciate it, good writing.
Thank you, Mike. When I had the idea of this poem come into my mind I thought it would be too complicated. So I spent a lot of time after first writing it out, trying to simplify it. I discovered that you can only go so far in changing – what is mostly a stream of thoughts – before the message of the whole thing is lost. I appreciate you understanding it. Blessings, Allen