“legends of the fall”

one must live
before they can die...
die before they can
learn to live.
and somewhere in between
they must learn
to love, be loved,
feel love, embrace love,
and lose love.
one cannot understand
what it is they have,
until they have lost
what was before them
the entire time.
life stands still
for no one.
and love can wait only so long
before it dwindles
and is lost.
sometimes forever,
sometimes to return
stronger than ever.
i see life around me;
death before me;
love beside me;
and all the while,
trying to embrace
what little i am able
to see, feel, know
to be life and love
before death succombs.