Things Unlearned

Written for Sadje’s “What Do You See”.
Here’s where the prompt took me.

We always said next year like it was
a different state we could move to,
packed and waiting at the terminal ….
new friends, nicer weather,
better versions of ourselves.

But time has its own tense ….
the one they never taught in school.
And when your tiny fist
closed around my finger,
everything we learned fell away.

No next year in that grip.
No was, no will be ….
just the stunning present tense
of five translucent fingers declaring
that now is worth holding on to.

NAR©2026

This is “Living In the Moment” by Jason Mraz

What do you see # 333

^{Everything on The Elephant’s Trunk was created by me, unless otherwise indicated. Thanks for your consideration. NAR©2017-present.}