Loss

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Loss

 

Life is a long road

Populated by loss and suffering

So much loss so often that

We must sometimes wonder

If life is more punishment than joy

More pain than pleasure

 

We lose in love long before we gain

We lose in contests before winning

We lose the jobs we wanted

We lose the dreams we dreamed

We lose the money we gambled

We lose friendships and promises

 

But of all our losses

Death is the loss most supreme

We lose our dear beloved pets

We lose our grandparents

We lose our elders

We lose fathers and mothers

We lose siblings and friends

 

So much loss so often

We wonder if the price is not

Too great to bear

 

But then our eyes settle

On a picture of perfection

So dear and so inspired

We realized that all this loss

Is surpassed by something

So much greater

 

The balance of nature

The cycle of rebirth

The love of a mother and child

The longing for perfect beauty

The song of mourning doves

A setting sun on the Pacific

The vision of a masterpiece

 

There is no loss so great

That it can serve to counter

The beauty and the wonder

Of this sacred life on earth