Two Moments

There’s a moment full of bliss,

Full of joy you wouldn’t miss,

Full of anxious hope and dread,

When you almost lose your head,

Full of visions rare and sweet,

Loaded down with things to eat,

Full of pain and happiness,

Full of surety and guess,

Full of rich and rare delight –

When the bob goes out of sight.

There’s another moment when

Children take the place of men;

When the sun drops into space,

And the moon protects his face,

When the earth seems dark and drear

And eternity is near;

When the light of life has fled

And the graveyards claim their dead,

When all flesh returns to clay –

When the blamed fish gets away!

                                                                             Joe Cone

May 26, 1900