This Moment, Here

This moment, here, is all we have to live--
to reminisce, appreciate, forgive--
and there are no exchanges or returns.
Time runs out like water from a sieve
or refugees when some poor city burns.
The last reward that no-one ever earns
is extra time. No extra innings run,
the final lesson no-one ever learns:
how little time we have beneath the sun.
We all protest: "It can't be! I'm not done!"
when Atropos with fatal silver shears
approaches. All the time that Clotho spun
we spent or squandered. Now the living years
have dwindled to a point. This moment, here.

In memory of my grandfather, C. T. Shen
1913 - 2007
who wasted no moments in a long and fruitful life
May I do half as well.