Still Now

by Noble K Thomas (February 2010)

It is still now,

This precious moment
Defined by comprehension
Of our conscious existence,

Of this abundant light
And unlimited air.

Praise the random bark of a dog,
The sound of the old train whistle bending down the breeze.
The feel of the sun upon your face,
The sound of your own finite breathing.

O the long quick slide down the thermometer of our life,
From the welcoming yellow to the fertile green and into the deep sky blue,
From the waning orange to the crumpled brown and into that streak of silver,
Then the long sink into the deep sea of eternal black.

The sundial in the garden
Strangled by forgotten vine and hungry weed.

Damn the material riches of this world
That pale to the gift of simply being.

It is still now, you fool,
But it won’t be
Forever.