Borrowed Time Poem by Ruth Fainlight

Borrowed Time



I feel a bit crazy tonight,
my mood heightened, unstable:
maybe because it's full moon,
or maybe because we're living
on borrowed time. But borrowed
from whom? Maybe the moon -
it could be the moon who allows
you to live beyond your due.
This morning the doctor said
he's amazed you're still alive.
I'm not. Why should you die?
Far more reason to live,
so much still to do.
We both look up at the moon,
and silently I beg:
be as generous as you can,
kindly usurer,
give me endless credit.
Later I'll pay my debts
(I already know
the price will be cruel). Please,
let me borrow again, let us gaze
at you again - and again -
new moon, crescent, full,
in a clear or clouded sky.
Do not allow this moment
to be, or to become, even
maybe, the very last time.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Iris Iwanicki 31 March 2019

I love this poem! The poet is an advanced age, and the poem acknowledges she is on borrowed time. It reminds me of the poem on Ulysses - the same urge to keep going, so much to do, but truly feminine in gazing at the moon and seeking to see more of its phases, rather than less. Is it her mortality and spirit when referring to 'we' gaze at the moon - ambiguous

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Ruth Fainlight

Ruth Fainlight

New York City / United States
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