Immutability Poem by Elizabeth Padillo Olesen

The friends you know today
decide to live far away from you.
The newly wed couple next door
suddenly announces their divorce.

The once-great talent groomed
to excellence, who performs before
the audience's deafening applause,
is now found dead with suicidal note.

The once strong and invincible
can hardly stand up or walk.
Like a sick child, the healthy and witty
who often lead and guide, now
suffer from insomia and lost memory.

The life you keep today
is something you may lose
tomorrow, or something
you may keep for seconds,
or minutes, days, months and years.
Nobody knows.

The day turns into night
and the night into day.