Carpe Diem

Now that she is gone I miss her laughter,
The way it rippled through the air like gleaming
Echoes dancing in the sunlight, after
A summer rainstorm has done its streaming.

She used to carry sunbeams in her pockets,
Jingling them all the day as she played
Among the flowers, and would fling her favorites
High into the air, to dissipate the shade.

She had to go to seize the Present Day,
To hold it fast against the coming flood.
I like to think she could influence the way
The sun kisses life into a flower bud.

I heard she went to gather flowers in a meadow
Far away, in a land of ageless pleasure:
Spreading her happiness all’ allegro,
Conducting her very own symphonic measure.

She taught me so many wondrous things:
To wait patiently for the first star to shine;
Why the monarch butterfly has wings
Where to look for Nature’s true design.

But most of all she taught me how to let go,
Just when the time was exactly right –
Gently, like the touch of soft spring snow –
My one true love on the wings of flight.