Carpe fidem

To think with equanimity:  One day I shall no longer be,
though fleetingly a person dear may still remember me.
It matters not:  Oblivion is a gentle peace.
The noise and bustle finally will cease.
Acquaintances and family will all be gone--
in timeless time undone.

The dance of death spares none:  the power-drunk
go down as hoary galleons sunk …
Ephemeral all earthly glory,
fortune always transitory,
vanity revealing such a sorry story --
fatuous, all too human allegory!

Faith means hope in the continuum of the universe,
the poetry of life and death, that immense verse
of seasons, tides, capricious moods of mother Earth,
the smoothly interwoven cycles of new birth,
indulgent contrasts: Sunrise after sunset, summer after spring,
recurring yin and yang until our final fling.

Eternally the seas break on the shore,
blue skies, white clouds, storm winds uproar…
Leaves rustle in the woods, as birds chirp in the morn
songs heard by generations past – and soon by those unborn --
grey herons migrate as do swallows, waders, storks and swan,
whales voyage far to mate, lithe salmon brave wild streams to spawn.

Life is worth living – both in happiness and grief—
How special every moment is – prolonged or brief.
Be thankful for all beauty, for a gracious smile,
for all our senses, generous and versatile,
the miracle of feeling, tasting, hearing, seeing,
Sun on mountain peaks, the moonlight streaming…

We travelled many cultures, many lands
All rest in God's grace-spending hands.
We kept the faith, true to ourselves.
We practised carpe fidem in ourselves.

Awesome is all life, our faith replacing fear
when suddenly the hour arrives – soon it is here.
At last we know: Love is the essence
of our mortal iridescence.

© Alfred de Zayas