Moment

by Jeffrey Meyers

Our life conspires to blot out hopes of bliss:
Envious rivals, jealous of success,
Betrayers whose soft brains have creased
A notch below the level of a beast,
Old friends, with cancer tongue and brain disease,
Knowing their time on earth will quickly cease.
Shortness, perhaps extinction of my breath,
Swift premonition of an early death.

Yet with a comrade, austere Nova Scotian,
Whose house is soothed by the Atlantic Ocean,
Perfectionist in art, with cunning feel,
Who’s caught in paint the essence of the real,
Close talk, chilled wine, warm sun, smooth lawns, all this
Gives momentary consciousness of bliss.