The Facts of Life

By John Herlihy

The wise man sat back and sighed,

On a sense of emptiness he relied.

Filled raises the risk of overflowing,

Emptied makes room for knowing.

The facts of life at him simply stared,

Some die young as others are spared.

Laid in full view projecting innocence,

They are what they are, no pretense.

- - - - -

Storms on the horizon project the dark,

Dawn makes way for the song of a lark.

Red Sea urchins almost seem immortal,

Delicate butterflies, they are oh so mortal.

Wreaths for the victor made up of myrtle,

Never to be rushed is the plodding turtle.

The bowhead whale lives on for 200 years,

Roaming the arctic waters with few fears.

- - - - -

The African elephant roams the savannah,

Never knowing their homeland is Ghana.

The colorful macaw enjoys extended years,

Flitting thru the air with no need for tears.

A Galapagos tortoise sees a hundred span,

A long-living species of most ancient clan.

Weep for the escapades of the dragonfly,

Who lives but a summer and then will die.

- - - - -

The wise man saw the future wide-eyed,

Over delights he will never see, he cried.

Behind him, the past slipped quietly away,

No longer necessary, with no need to stay.

The facts of life have their moment in time,

You have a precious moment, I have mine.

In life’s pathways, some long, some ended,

They speak on their own, nothing pretended.

- - - - -

(c) John Herlihy November 2018