It Would Have Been Enough–a poem AfterTalk Pandemic Weekly 46.21

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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.

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