Abbreviating Life

 

It's the truculent truth is it not?
This is no rehearsal, it's here
it's brief and it's final, one
lifespan so swift it leaves
spinning heads to wonder. No
argument though, you cannot
have it all. Not as simple as
making choices. Some harbour
scant curiosity, satisfied with
mundane routine, certifying
they will live a long, quite
ordinary life. Those propelled
consumed and intent on a search
for deeper meaning in existence
those whose senses are excited
and exalted by approaching
the farthest reaches of the world
looking aspirationally at the
vastness of the universe, yearning
to reach and to touch the outer
limits of endurance have bartered
longevity for experience in 
reaching beyond the ordinary.
They spiral inevitably beyond
any but nature's control. It is
they and their ephemeral vision
unafraid of venturing toward
that dark abyss and in the process
willingly abbreviating life.