It Cannot Last Poem by Gert Strydom

(for Annelize)

Last it cannot,
the way that she does look at me
as if she is really interested,
the sun in her eyes,
her smile
that goes to the darkest part of my soul,
as if our meeting has been destined to be,
not only is something that does perish in a moment
like the lightning bolt that flashes in the distance
that is exceptional in the Cape
and I know that in minutes it's going to rain

where I am at her car on the soccer-field,
where it is boiling,
do take the electrical cord of the fan into my hands
push the power connector in deeper
and suddenly the fan starts blowing,

again she smiles as bright as the summer-sun,
the sound of her voice goes into the memory bank
to eternally be recognized immediately
and that moment does suddenly come back from the past
as still after all the years it does remain precious to me,
like it is with the meeting of someone wonderful,
of someone that can change your life
as if it was destined that we would meet

but that day suddenly fades away beyond decades of years
and lightening has an eternal enchantment to me
as if those rays do not just bring rain but also happiness
but still the wonder does remain
of that woman that can make and break me
who is not mine anymore
but still do believe in my poetry,
who still knows me for the person that I am

and I do wonder about happiness and if it's fleeting like a thunder-flash
that burns into the back-eye, into the memory and into the soul
with the thing that people do call love
and if somewhere you do really find it after many years?

© Gert Strydom