Punctuations: A Poem by Gregory Askew

Punctuations

They say the end is coming

But what if the end has come

and come again?

What if worlds fall and rise anew

about us every day?

Are we ever prepared?

Are we ever?

There…

a stranger comes upon us

at once familiar

at once known

with a form and a course

as that which greets us

assured and assuring

in the glance of a passing window

and yet…

that glance those eyes

and upon a sudden

the world falls away

for a moment

the world falls away

before the question upon which it rests

the world

there’s nothing more

and then the moment passes

…then there’s something

Or…

We grasp the hand of our lover

there it rests in ours ours

resting

a common gesture

taking the hand of a lover

and there it rests ours

assured and assuring

and yet…

that hand resting

a sudden weight

a new gravity possessed

and for a moment

the world falls away

falls away

for a moment

before the question upon which it rests

the world the hand

resting

there’s nothing more

and then the moment passes

…then there’s something

Punctuations