The Kiss That Made Forever
A time there was when nothing lasted. All the obvious was pointed out. "Grandma had to go," your parents said. They wanted to console you, though in vain. And your eyes pointed out and your nose pointed out and your heart pointed out all the rest. Everything ended. Childhood, school, friendships, pets, that tasty steak that you were holding onto hoping she would change her mind, all of it let you down and usually just when you needed it most. But then there was the kiss that lit forever in your mind. Though on one plane it appeared and disappeared, on another it went on. She kept her face pressed to yours till her wild red hair began to cover your own baldness. The tides came and went in their endless pursuit of "never", "not for long", "you better get out while you can". The seasons and the rains and snows and burning sun wore on you too, till you looked like an ancient. But all of that was neither here nor there. Though as a person in your life she disappeared, the kiss would persist even after your own disappearance. Because the kiss brought up love everlasting. The kiss brought it up to the surface. The effect of it being revealed - that burning luminosity that underlies the world and will outlast it and all of the worlds past and future - made the scholars nod their heads in sad defeat. There was a forever. They had to admit it. And that was how it came about.
26 March 2021
Texas Jim
Rogues Roost, Nova Scotia
www.granitecoast.ca