The Brevity of Life

By Emily Katherine McLean

 I used to never think of it,

The brevity of life

Now I’m trying not to sink in it,

The brevity of life

It often keeps me up at night,

I wonder if it’s worth the fight

I cannot always see the light

The brevity of life

I loosely hold all of my dreams

My hopes accompanied by screams

My grief is bursting at the seams

The brevity of life

I know my God hears every cry

And doesn’t scoff when I ask why

He reminds me of the butterfly

The brevity of life

I’m breathing deep and letting go

Of thinking I’ve a right to know

How all this pain will help me grow

The brevity of life

What I believe is all I own

I’m fully loved and fully known

I’ll reap the seeds which I have sown

The brevity of life

I try to cherish every day

When there is nothing left to say

I fight to stand in beauty’s way

The brevity of life

I take my time to smell the flowers

Soak in the sounds of springtime showers

Revel in all my given hours

The brevity of life

And when my days on earth are through

And there’s nothing here for me to do

I’ll venture into something new

The eternity of life

My heart will finally be made whole,

Fully nourished in my soul,

At last I’ll reach my final goal,

The eternity of life

I’ll rest in goodness and perfect peace

My pain will fade and tears will cease

The chains that bind me will release

The eternity of life

I’ll know God better than ever before

This distance I will feel no more

I’ll see all that he had in store

The eternity of life

I’ll be all I was meant to be

Like Eden just before that tree,

And only beauty will I see

In the eternity of life.

- Emily Katherine McLean