What I have learned – a poem by Stephen Joffe

What I have learned

always is
	as long as 	right now

forever is	the sun’s tall shadow
		across one grasp of	 green yard

it is today.

& i cannot break your promise-

i am told time expands		in every direction at once
there is a world	where this is the world,
but for every 	is			there is 	not:

so, in love-		do right	by both

fall laughing,		 & land	in the shattered mirror of
									grace.

swift is not certain

certain is	the sun’s tall shadow
		held loosely		in the copse where children
					turn branch to armament;

we are then called home.

surrender yourself,
	wager your full heart upon
		the game worth losing

	as the ocean gambles its fullness
	upon the shore,

		as the sun stakes its weightlessness
			upon the earth.




Stephen Joffe is an award winning actor, musician, writer, and sound designer based in Toronto. He has previously been published as a playwright, songwriter (Birds of Bellwoods, etc.), and poet.