Longevity

Nature hedges its bets with candles and suns.
Some lives flash briefly in fecund swarms.
Fireflies, mice, lice and mayflies—
scatter their bright fireworks shoals of living sparks 
with a fanfare of hope into the wilderness.
Others linger slowly through centuries:
whales, tortoises, redwoods, sloths, and—us—
cherishing and nurturing a precious handful of progeny.

Evolution never chose one way to survive and bargain with time.
Scatter a hundred thousand seeds—or guard a precious handful of few?
It's either careful maintenance, patiently sustained and nurtured—
Or throwaway spam replacements with no warranties.
Yet nothing blooms forever here—not even the daisies.

Even the white stars in the sky above age to orange giants. 
Collapse to dull red dwarfs,
then fade further, and implode into dark black holes,
where even time itself forgets what day it is.

So make hay while the sun shines.
Count not the days you're left—
count what makes days glow, and linger long in memory.

agecreationendurancetimetogetherfree verse

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