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.