I want to stay outside
until last light.
Until there is nothing
to put myself in.
At twilight, life begins to hide.
Fish settle to the bottom.
Birds shift on the branches
and become still.
Like a theater,
there is a hush
before the curtain opens.
A palpable joining of hands.
Children call out like little bells.
All eyes swim into the darkness.
For a moment there is the
concussion of a single heart beat,
and then infinity lights the wicks
of its candles,
one by one,
as many as every soul desires.
More than there is sand on earth,
and that is the span
our lives will endure.
The words we will learn,
to say our psalms,
and time will be over
before our childhoods
are even born.
Love, not time,
will be the savior of our being.
As long as love goes on,
the candles will burn,
from daylight to dusk,
and all through the night.