THERE IS NO TOMORROW

There Is No Tomorrow

There is no tomorrow.
Not for me.
Not for you.
Only the comforting illusion
that dawn has signed another contract
with our names.

When we are young,
tomorrow is an endless promise.
We borrow against it,
spend it recklessly,
waste it on trifles,
certain another sunrise
will refill the account.

Age teaches otherwise.

One morning
you awaken to discover
that tomorrow is no longer a certainty.
It has become a question,
then a possibility,
and finally,
a privilege.

The calendar grows thin.
The seasons shorten.
Each goodbye
lingers a little longer.

And yet,
this is not the end of hope.

For though there may be
no tomorrow for us,
there may still be
a tomorrow for what we leave behind.

A book
that outlives its author.
An idea
that finds another mind.
A melody
that another voice will sing.
A lesson
that becomes someone else's wisdom.
A kindness
that echoes through generations
without ever knowing your name.

This is the project.

Find something
that deserves tomorrow.
Build something
that will not need your heartbeat.
Plant a tree
whose shade you will never know.
Write the sentence
you will never live to read again.
Light a candle
whose flame another hand will carry.

Death cannot negotiate
with unfinished time,
but it has no claim
upon the work
that continues without us.

There is no tomorrow
for the body.

But there can be
a thousand tomorrows
for the gift we leave behind.

So choose your project well.

For in the end,
our greatest ambition
is not to live forever.

It is to create something
that does.

WJS