NOTHING IS FOREVER

NOTHING IS FOREVER

She sets jars of purple lilacs around the room
while Judy Collins croons "Forever Young."
Nothing lasts forever, she thinks, especially youth.
Her life is passing, the days rushing ruthlessly forward
too swiftly to stop. There's no going back.
She feels herself moving toward nothingness.
Later, lonely in the silent night
she reaches for her husband's hand,
listens to his soft muffled breathing,
soothing like a lullaby.
She dreams of babies who are grown
as the darkness lays down beside her.