Survive: Collected Poems

A Night To Remember

Let this moment never die
Side by side
Hand in hand
Watching the sun set over this Great Lake.
The water laps beneath our hanging feet
And as beautiful as the sunset is,
I close my eyes because
It would not be as beautiful
Were I not by your side.

This rock is solid beneath us.
I cannot tell how many thousands
Of years it has been here,
Slowly being eaten away
By the gentle sway of the water.
But it is firm,
A foundation for this moment
Just as it has been for so many other
Immortal moments before this.
We cannot fathom how long it will be
Before this rock is worn away
Into nothing.
Eternity stretches out all around us.
But the only eternity I need
Is within this moment.

This water is the only border
Keeping us from Canada.
They stop you on land.
They ask for your passport.
On the lake, even,
I see the border patrol boats
Far off in the distance.
But the water has no passport.
It ebbs and floes as it pleases,
Moving between nations with ease.
We reach down and dip our fingers
Into the shallows.

We are touching the world.
This is not Ohio's water.
This is the world's water,
And the world could be ours.
We have touched it and left our mark.
The rock breathes in this moment
And will hold it sacred forever.
We do the same,
But the rock will hold for longer.
The world is ours right now,
And I will burn myself into oblivion
Keeping the eternal flame lit.
I will burn forever,
And let this moment never die.