Life Is Always Shorter When We Think About It Poem by RIC BASTASA

an inch away
always an inch away from
sudden deaths

that is how we measure
time
luck makes it a little wider
a second
becomes meaningful

a friend dies alone
in his Makati apartment
but he was able
to say
good luck to all his friends
away from him
before that crucial moment

he made peace with God
i imagine
who's next
to succumb to a very silent
room
i imagine
what peace is there.

i think again
bubbles in my mind
life is too short
for all these quibbles.

i go out
take a walk
talk to no one
and bathe
in sunshine