Life was

Light and shadows pick out planes,
layers of existence:
some we've left behind
in frock coats, crinolines
and courtly manners; some have found
eternal spring.

Perspectives can confuse:
where life and non-existence meet,
where dust motes that have been around
for aeons poke
the slumbering absences
into a semblance of new life.

For this is where our forbears spoke
of faith and all that lay before
what now are empty seams.
They saw the beauty in the snow,
tasted all the fruits of earth
and would not let the future go.
...................................

The prompt was supplied by The Mag. The image is by Andrew Wyeth.