October 26, 2016 dVerse: First Things First

First Things First

how hard it is to determine what is first          what is not                   with letters

we know it is an “a”                and with numbers                    we know it is “1”                   

but how to remember the first breath               the first thing we saw              the first touch

the first sound of our mother's heart                beating /beating            as if it would beat forever

without knowing                     one day                                    a day unknown to us

would be the last beat              and only then                           the first silence we would know

only slowly                             these things become known to us        everything begins

and ends                                  as we do ourselves                              while we don't remember

all the things that came first     hopefully we will be awake                 and present

for what will come last            last smile                                 last day

last memory                             last goodbye                            last breath

is the last leaf on the tree in fall           the first or the last leaf to appear in spring       hard to determine

what is first/what is not           is the first snowflake to fall in winter  first birdsong in spring

first grain of sand on the beach           first wave to touch the shore               first kiss from my lover

last bear killed in the forest                last spider to crawl across the floor                 last breath

and how to count all that comes between                    first                                      ...and last

October 15, 2016