Today

Today is a fine day for living
         today I will catch my breath
and be thankful :
         like nothing are the joys
of life and of love
         one and the same

I have been through
         enough ages to know
when to count my blessings
         I have held new-born life
in my hands
         I have picked budding roses
trimmed their stems
         and placed them
in a glass vase and watched
         as the petals unfolded
In the reflex of a human face
         I have seen tenderness
along with memory
         and eyes kindled with love

Today is a fine day to remember
         the days that have gone before
but also to plunge headlong
         into the present
When all else fades
         or grows tired
when the flesh fails
         and the hand trembles
as it reaches out
         to caress a face
I know that time
         is a great leveller
it strips away all irrelevance
         despises the narrowing
lust for gold and glory
         Today is a fine day to admit 
that love is the first 
         and the last intelligence

John Lyons