Like a Bright Exhalation in the Evening

                   for Claudia Chopek

There is an end to everything we do,

Which means that how we leave is who we are.

We can resent it, or complain and stew,

Or go out blazing, like a shooting star— 

Or play the close so well that blind men see

It’s not about attainment, but the growing,

And that success is more than victory

Or bows that the violist gets for bowing.

And when the time comes for the final note

To sound, let it be like an opening—

Not sad or grieving, but their antidote.

Let music in us find new ways to sing

And stretch the wings we’ve earned until they fly

And, like a comet, scrape stars from the sky.

Copyright 2017 Matthew J Wells