Sentenced

Just yesterday, I had it all before me
now today, it seems all but gone.
little words with giant meanings
striking me dumb, but not for long.

I had been sentenced you see
the end was near he said
a few months more is all
then I shall be amongst the dead.

I sat awhile and thought deeply
just what that should mean to me
had he said anything that changed
what I'd always known would be.

It shook me to my core at first
this I  must admit is true
and if you're to be honest
it would do the same to you

Yet a wave of lasting calm
enveloped me sometime after
I left behind the tears
and entertained only laughter

I thought about my life in total
my time spent upon this earth
the love ,the tears,the laughter,
I had experienced since birth

How fortunate I had been
to know so many good souls
to share in their hopes and dreams
to watch them go from young to old

My life no longer measured
in what may come, or by the past
I now lived in the present
God saved the greatest gift for last.

He sent someone to sentence me
to live each day filled with love
and I now felt eternally grateful
for this precious gift from above.