One Long Look

One long look behind
lingering on the footprints
a trail from the east
Warm hands cradle
life’s best tools
to steady old bones from faltering
while a heart beats one more time
the footprints blur
while wet eyes recall 
an old man’s tale
melting into the tapestry
of time, leaving a thread
of fractured gleam.

One long look ahead
feeling the cool exhale
calling him to rest
Numb to the tools
old bones settling down
while a heart grows still
footprints stretch out west
As wet eyes watch
a book closed, a story ends
knowing infinite volumes 
give eternal life
lived in illumination