The Day it All Ends
by
Radiance Angelina Petro

The cotoneaster tree lives only a few years,
and dragonfly nymphs stalk tadpoles
in the underwater grass.

Uncramp yourself. The swing and sway
of life—the undiscoverable. So many possible
eternities.

The mutual aid of time and motion,
the wobbly electrons, the miracle of identity—
let something else be the custodian of the calendar.

Time is alive and well—maintained comfortably
in the acorn. Look at us—spread every which way—
full of no longer moments and not just yet moments.

Shadows bend into light, light bends into shadow.
The exaggerated now is drawing you on. The day
you outrun the tortoise is the day it all ends.