There is not much that will endure

or will help you to endure, so when you find that

it may have found you.

Many things might make you quit, give up

lose belief

but somehow, if you do them

they stay alive in you

for one more day, at least

like an old photograph

that isn’t tossed away

into a dump.

My aunt has a picture of herself in black and white

from World War 2

Her beauty is undeniable

in that picture.

She’s 95 now

so, she was 23 then

when she claims

a soldier kissed her.

Who knows if that’s true

Now, she makes up everything.

I have a picture like that

where I am a handsome man.

I can see it standing up

looking at me

when I’m 95.

If the morning is young

and the evening is old

I have lived my life well

each day

because I celebrated the sun

and the darkness

was full of mystery.