Grief Poem 124 Dayenu: It Would Have Been Enough
by R.L. Nona
If we had been given one more year
to watch the sun set on the far mountains,
float on our backs in salt ponds shaded
by ancient willows that protest the weight of their leaves,
and hold each other close as the seasons cycle.
First in the lush sensual green of a damp summer,
I stare into your sunglasses
and see the blood orange rainbow of fall,
and in winter our sleigh tracks lazy curves
and the dogs complain as they sink knee deep
and can’t keep up.
It is spring and the earth explodes with flower and fruit,
And we lie in the grass dripping early juices into our mouths
to the whine of hornets that never touch us
for a force field of love protects us.
If we had been given one more year
It would have been enough.
If we had been given one more month
it would have to be July
we would watch the moon shape shift on the still surface of the pond,
and we would rise early and never sleep
for the days are so long, the sky so blue, and the earth warm and fecund.
We climb trails and the deer are amazed by our audacity,
Who are we to intrude? they wonder aloud.
Ignoring them, we climb higher until we find the blue stream whose waters taste like honey.
If we had been given one more month
It would have been enough.
If we had been given one more week,
we’d all lay in our big bed the children between us
telling them over and over
that all would be well until they pretended to believe it
and went about their lives sharing our lie.
then we would drive all day and night until we found the perfect beach
and no matter what time of year, the water would be clear and warm
and we would snorkel among the coral petting the puppy dog Grouper who followed us.
After the sun would set with a green flash
we would dance every step we ever learned
for hours as diamond encrusted skies spiraled above us,
and never sleep–there would be time enough for that later.
If we had been given one more week
It would have been enough.
If we had been given one more day
we would spend it in each other’s arms
and recount every moment of our lives together
and take comfort in what we had been gifted
and as the sun set our tears would flow together
and we would smile through them
and our lips would touch.
If we had been given one more day
It would have been enough.
If had been given one more minute,
just one,
I would look into your eyes
and my soul would jump the space between us
and I would live forever inside your heart
and we would be one spirit forever.
If we had been given one more minute
It would have been enough.
