Here and Now and Soon, Nevermore

It’s almost midnight,

And I’m at death’s door.

Well, maybe not quite.

But closer, at least,

Then I was before.

I know he’s been there,

Patiently waiting,

Biding and hiding and sharpening his scythe,

Soon I’ll be fading

On a sweat-stained bed

Curtains drawn,

Damp cloth on my brow,

Soon I’ll be gone.

Not long now.

My burdens and trials,

Failures and victories,

Just a kinescope movie

A film in my head

Family and friends

Wives and daughters

Birthdays and funerals

Dancing shadows on a drive-in screen

I think I’ve done okay

Anyway.

It doesn’t much matter anymore.

In one hundred years

Maybe less.

All that I own,

All that I bled for,

All that I stressed for,

All that remains.

Will be owned by someone else.

And I,

I won’t even be a picture in an album.

For the albums,

Like me,

Will be dust underground.

So the life that I have left,

Is for today.

Tomorrow is for others.

Because just as sure as the bell will toll for me and thee,

Today is mine.

And it’s enough just to be.