The Element of Surprise
By John Herlihy

When is the first moment of wondrous splendor?
The baby beholds its mother with feelings tender.
New life begins as a ball of yarn ready to unravel;
The soul journey begins at the sound of life’s gavel.
The infant’s wide world awaits with no compromise;
The world itself draws upon the element of surprise.

When is the monumental moment never before missed?
A teenage boy wonders why he has never been kissed.
Her red cloak set her apart as she moved in the crowd;
The wave of her blue-eyed glance made him feel proud.
A mystery suddenly unveiled from deep within her eyes;
No doubt, she was relying on the element of surprise.

Life contains moments that will never be missed!
Feelings of foreboding to cloud the mind and insist.
Doubt creeps into our hearts that we cannot maintain;
Despair overlays the soul that we can never sustain.
We feel hurt, we are depressed, we see our demise,
Until fate turns a corner with the element of surprise.

Despite the journey, there have been roads not taken;
Decisions at crossroads that later became forsaken.
The ghosts of seasons past often linger in the wings;
Eerie wind not only howls in our ears, it often sings.
Just when we may least expect it, the moment arrives;
When destiny does knock with the element of surprise.

When is the last moment of life before a person dies?
Captured in memoriam before the lids close our eyes.
The moment will arrive that no one could ever foretell;
Before silence invades, there is a final tolling of a bell.
Imagine the wonder to have shed all that we despise;
Behold in celestial glory the final element of surprise.