“A Maxim” by Carl Dennis
Each evening I take our golden retriever, Ralph, for his twice daily walk. I passed by the poetry post on NE 32nd Court and paused to read the poem “A Maxim” by Carl Dennis. The poem got me thinking about my father, who has stage four lung cancer. Yesterday, dad was asked how long the doctor told him he had to live. He said about six to seven months and that was a month ago.
I wondered if dad looked in the mirror every day asking God if this day was his last day on Earth. But why I wondered would he do that when I don’t ask the same question when I look in the mirror. I know that at 67 years old, my day could come tomorrow. Just this weekend someone in the obits died who was born on January 26th, 1944; just eleven days after my birth. We just don’t do look in the mirror and ask that question, do we?
Carl Dennis writes that even the idea of living each day as if it were our last isn’t a good idea.
But if you take his maxim too literally
And devote your mornings to tinkering with your will,
Your afternoons and evenings to saying farewell
To friends and family, you’ll come to regret it.
Soon your lawyer won’t fit you into his schedule.
Soon your dear ones will hide in a closet
When they hear your heavy step on the porch.
And then your house will slide into disrepair.
If this is my last day, you’ll say to yourself,
Why waste time sealing drafts in the window frames
Or cleaning gutters or patching the driveway?
Yes, tomorrow could be our last, but it won’t be until it is!
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