Eternity

We are born, each of us,
With a very set time to live;
Yet in that lifetime lies a thousand eternities
Trapped within that tiny space.

A baby is placed in a crib,
By its mother, who for just a moment needs both hands;
He cries until she returns and wipes away his tears –
An eternity has passed.

A child is dropped off,
Today is the first day of school;
The safety of home and family is replaced by a sterile building full of strangers
That first day seems an eternity!

The boy, now older,
Stands before the class;
Today he gives an oral report on some book he didn’t want to read
It takes an eternity.

The teenage boy
Walks across the stage;
He is finally at the end of one journey and beginning another
It took an eternity.

The man waits
He has asked her a simple question;
He is on one knee in the restaurant holding his breath
She takes an eternity to answer.

She screams
He watches, holding her hand;
The doctors and nurses clamor about as the baby comes
It feels like eternity passes.

The man sits,
His hair is white;
He doesn’t regret the decision to retire, but he doesn’t know what to do now.
He’s been working for all eternity.

The man lies on the bed
The sound of his own shallow breath scares him;
He’s not sure he’s ready for his story to end, yet time has stubbornly marched on.
He would give anything for just one more of those eternal moments that he impatiently wished away.

The time you get in this life,
Is all you’ll ever truly possess;
You can use it any way you choose, live life to its fullest or impatiently squander it
Either way, eternity waits patiently for you.