Life Dances On

POEM

 

 

by Erlie Lopez

two am of a new year

after raising a wineglass to the eve countdown

the future spirals into my daze

abed with a clock ticking in my head

in seeming calendar whirl –

one, seven, twelve, till

three hundred sixty-five.

life moves on

even with covid and as it lingers

along with other scavengers

bared by laboratory numbers –

blood count, lipid profile, hormonal balance,

immune system state, and in the past two years,

also by a nose swab.

 

but, lest we forget, to be human

is not just to breathe

the air impure and stale

but to surface the microscope’s unseen –

love in the heart,

kindness in the spirit,

peace in the mind.

life then dances on,

never mind the rough floors

and tunes off-key,

as the music beat is “Hope”,

that thing with feathers

that perches in the soul.

(yes, dear Emily Dickinson)

 

let’s then dance

to a bright new year!


About the Poet

Erlie Lopez is a Filipina retired from the frenetic world of Public Relations and Advertising in Metro Manila. She was, in the last 18 years, head of a PR agency she co-founded. In her independent and sedate world now, she mostly reads, writes, stays socially connected, soaks in Nature, and develops new interests and skills adapting to the pandemic mode of life. She has also returned to a first love – poetry – which keeps her heart open to the grace and rhythm of the universe.

 

 

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