The Before Time - Oct 19 2023

 

The Before Time

Oct 19 2023

The table was set

lights dimmed

candles lit,

a carefully staged tableau

of gracious living.

Savoury smells

wafted in from the kitchen,

where the festive meal

was in its final stage.

And in the table's centre

sat fresh-cut flowers

lovingly arranged

in a clear glass vase;

a still life painting

in trompe-l'œil.

I felt a sense

of time suspended;

a moment of perfection

that would have been sufficient

as an end in itself;

the anticipation

that’s often the best part.

The festive meal, an afterthought,

conviviality

put off for now.

How odd to remember this.

One of those snapshots

of daily life

that somehow lodge in memory,

no matter how inconsequential

they seem at the time.

A frozen image

of the flawless table

perfectly set,

its elegant chairs

as yet unoccupied;

still evenly spaced

and tucked nicely under it.

And the feeling that went with —

the warm glow

of calm and contentment,

easy acceptance,

unquestioning love.

A paradigm

of the before

when the after was unthinkable.

When the cataclysm

that would shatter lives

was just a matter of time,

building in the distance

close enough to see

if we'd only thought to look.