In This Moment
Art by Maggie Cusack (2017 archive)
In this moment atoms are refusing
to touch. They step and sway to an unheard
and infinite tune all alone even
though their electrons are falling in love.
A planet is spinning off-axis and
over one thousand miles per hour,
where a child is collecting rocks and
thinks stars are those passed looking back at us.
In this moment a spider finds itself
frightened in a world of plastic and brick,
where the giants and monsters walk the earth
and they don’t take too kindly to strangers.
Someone is crying in a sunbaked car
while someone softly hums themselves to sleep
in a cell. A couple argues in a
kitchen over the new backsplash again.
In this moment liquor is snuck up stairs
and lakes are un-still. A tree grows sideways
and someone sleeps under the overpass.
Fires are spread while water is priced high.
A molecule has bent, an eye has closed,
a comet has burnt up, a stomach has
gone empty, a heart has been full, a life
has been lived, and God is eating popcorn.
In this moment Life and Death are holding
hands alone in a dimly lit hallway
and move to the music played in the next
room over before their reception starts.
In this moment I am giving no thought
to the dissonance and harmonies sung
by the symphony of the universe
because in this moment we are dancing.
