The Quest

Nocturnal news of a death,

Haunted by a recurring dream,

Sinking into brackish quicksand.

Awake, I breathe the mourning air,

Absorbed by a Monarch perched

Upon a blood red gypsy rose.

A Praying Mantis floats downstream

Riding on a gossamer leaf.

Mesmerized by flickering sunlight

Forgetting to remember Life is fragile, fleeting,

Transcending the threat of annihilation,

The elixir of immortality.

Milton P. Ehrlich