Measures

How do you measure
Your life?
Could you measure it in minutes,
That trickle through your fingers and brain
Like grains of sound.
No, not in minutes, so many passed in boredom,
Waiting for better things,
In queues.

How about in expectations?
The joys we’ve hoped for,
The moments of gossamer,
Suspended dis-suspension,
The minor surprises,
The unwrapped presents,
The still locked doors.
Hmm, perhaps not;
Think of every bad surprise and
Poor tasting meal served
In place of
A banquet.

Maybe we should measure
In experiences?
In bell chimes that echo in
The frosted silence of a new morning?
Or the kisses of an old love,
That still feel new?
No, not in experiences, as
Many sour as frost-snow sweet,
As like to cut like glass as reflect
Happy times.

Maybe the trick isn’t
In measures, or seconds,
Or experiences born.
Maybe we should just
Dangle and let
History stream back
And the future float forward,
Like the ribbons of youth.