but a breath

i’m like a one-trick pony preacher
traipsing around with tropes
to all those who are coming after me
“it all goes too fast!”
“push back against the incessant ticking
of the seconds hand!”
“enjoy these days while they last!”

alas, my words and my actions
are like two south poles repelling each other
a magnetic field pushing me towards

what
next numbing netflix show
fifteen more minutes of shut-eye
one more task off the list
it’s laughably embarrassing 

but you’ve been there too, right

mercifully, moments come
sometimes i switch the poles
heart hushed at last 
as night falls
upon near-sleeping souls

impossibly smooth
i brush the 
back 
of my fingers 
across 
the tip of her brow
past
her temple
down 
to her jawbone

following the path 
a tear might make
around the contours of her face
as gravity zealously pulls it down
drawing everything towards itself

why is this beauty from dust
so easy to miss

Written by Scott Moore
Illustrated by Landon Wideman

Inspired July 2023