within each moment
it is funny to think that out of thousands of days
lived by the hour, the minute, the second
we only keep a few moments
and it is funny to think that in a world going a mile a minute
we sit in plain desks and stare at the second hand
i suppose it must mean that the moments we keep
must be special, golden, glimmering in the dark
they must be spectacular moments, devastating moments
moments that lift us up and bury us deep
moments that make us who we are
and sometimes they come when i expect them
in a dimly lit gym with glittering dresses and done-up hair
when that perfect song comes on and we lose ourselves
and i look around and see us all together, one generation
and i wonder how i could ever feel alone
but sometimes they come in strange moments
in a car ride on our own through the middle of nowhere
leaning against the passenger door, earbuds in
two of us sleeping in the back and all i can think about
is how much we've grown over the years
and i think we forget under pressure
that youth is about making memories, not finding them
or mourning over the loss of them
because in the blur of books, jobs, applications
we forget to hold onto the spots of sunshine
like the smiles from nursing home patients
when you walk in wearing your prom dress
because even though your grandmother won't remember
the pictures you took, the laughs you shared
you'll remember the way that she smiled
or pizza grease all over your fingertips
a cheap amusement park meal
sun burning your neck as you wait for the ferris wheel
but you don't even care because someone just told a joke
and you can't stop laughing
or grass making imprints on your legs in the school forest
second graders scattered before you
and you're supposed to be teaching them symmetry but
one of them throws a marker at your partner's nose
and you giggle along with them at the look on his face
i don't want to tie my life down into hours, minutes, seconds
i want to tie it into memories
into moments so golden they seem ethereal
because they always remind me that really
life is short and must be lived