2 MIN
Years and years, the mystery of life,
Sometimes you fly, escaping the strife,
Sometimes you linger, heavy and slow.
You erase it all: the errors we sow,
Life itself, and even your own soul.
Time is your master, in complete control—
Over him, we have no power as of yet,
But to solve his riddles is a goal we've set.
Civilizations rise and then they pass,
Time erases their footprints in the grass,
But people preserve the knowledge they find,
Seeking the answer for all of mankind.
Soon we shall live for eternity,
For all on this earth is a cycle, you see.
Recall the Torah’s ancient story:
Adam and Eve—Eden’s eternity.
Then came the exile, the sickness, the cry—
The very first scream of: "Do not die."
And with every new generation’s breath,
The path of our lives grew closer to death.
Once, in those fateful years of the past,
Forty was a record, too brief to last.
That was the moment, the breaking of light,
We finally redeemed the sin of the night.
From that point on, we turned to the start,
Man continued the race with all of his heart.
Eighty is no longer our limit or wall,
And now we hear rumors, heard by us all,
Of someone who reached a hundred or more.
Slowly, we move toward the final door—
But by the laws of the world's grand design,
The end is the start, where the heavens align,
In that immortal life where Eden remains.
And yet, one thing leaves me in doubt and in chains:
What happens next? I cannot quite see.
And so, I apologize, most sincerely,
That I cannot finish this poem for you.
Let everyone decide what they hold to be true,
By their own faith, and by their own mind.
Elena Fainshtein is a behavioral economics researcher and mental health professional based in Israel. An MBA and Social Sciences graduate, she explores the human psyche and societal structures through poetry and fiction. Her multilingual work delves into existential loneliness and the cyclical nature of life, bridging scientific inquiry with lyrical storytelling. These poems are previously unpublished.
https://fainshtein.co.il
https://www.facebook.com/elena.fainshtein