I’ve heard that at the moment of death,
Our lives flash before us.
If this is so,
Let those traumatic and painful moments
Pass quickly
Be a blur
The mind unable to apprehend or recall
Let them flash for the briefest nanosecond,
Then vanish like smoke in the wind
But let those moments of joy–
That made our hearts sing–
That engendered glowing smiles and rapturous hours,
Let them linger,
Bending and stretching each moment.
Let them unfold so slowly,
Frame by frame,
That we can rejoice in them
Capturing those beloved, cherished faces,
Embracing everything and everyone in rapture,
Until the final frame flickers and fades
And the reel of our existence flashes
Finis.
Kathleen Chamberlin is a retired educator living in Albany, New York. She turned her attention to writing creatively during the quarantine period of Covid-19 and her writing has appeared in both print and online journals and anthologies.
