Every Moment, In This Moment

The light from the sun

Takes 8 minutes and 20 seconds

To reach the Earth.

In this moment, you are seeing the sun as it was

8 minutes and 20 seconds ago.

Alpha Centauri is 4.3 light years away

So stand today

Warming your toes on our second nearest star -

It’s just a little warmer than the surface of the sun -

And look back on the Earth as it was

4.3 years ago.

Seen from Alpha Centauri

Our love is still alive, and thriving.

4.3 years ago we were walking on the beach in Wales

Where I taught you to skim flat stones

Out across the smooth water

Between the waves.

Later, I massaged your glistening, willing body

In that hot, humid hotel room near Smithfield Market

And when we were spent, and sated,

We went out to the bars without showering,

Trailing pheromones after us, like a veil.

You could stand on Alpha Centauri

And watch us move into our house in the country

With your girls -

The day when the wild horses galloped down from the fells,

The herd parting around our car,

Rejoining beyond, flowing onwards and out of sight.

On a bridge of light stretching

From Earth to Alpha Centauri and beyond,

Every moment is playing out still –

Every moment, in this moment.