Thang Nguyen 555

Empires ended. Products expired. People with own timetables…. with either sudden or slow deaths.

We can do without a lot of things, such as pandemic or climate change.

Speaking of on the road….with pot holes and parking tickets.

Speed traps and traffic schools.

No one wants to stay home. Even the PBS Newshour panelists, now debating in person in studio.

The dynamics of inter-personal face time, of reading the other’s non-verbal.

It’s beautiful when it’s voluntary i.e. re-union or celebration.

It’s a drag when it’s forced, or mandatory.

The play aspect of events and gathering e.g. summer camps, summer camping, summer road trips.

If it’s spontaneous, and more than likely, won’t happen the same way again, then it’s play.

If it’s repeatable, like a scientific experiment, then it’s chores.

We miss out our youth because we’re told to sacrifice for the future.

Now is that future. And it’s bitter taste in the mouth.

In war time, people got away with a lot of things (like fathering and leaving a child behind – interracial one – or rushing a relationship to its end stage because tomorrow, we would all die).

Our youth, our dreams and our longing…so elusive and always a mirage.

Keep pressing ahead, a long road.

To no end. God is dead since the 60’s. Let him find you. Don’t go around looking for heaven on Earth (where earthly things are prevalent as mentioned earlier with “war time” rationalisation.)

Although the end is not in sight, it will come to each of us when least expected.

Last Sunday it happened to a classmate.

Some years down the road, to my loved ones.

Can’t stop time.

Can’t turn back the clock.

Can’t help but moving on and on, six-feet apart or six-feet under.

What’s left, in my opinion, is compassion, empathy and kindness.

Those qualities are enduring and hopefully eternal.

All else is fake, with product life-cycle, with planned obsolescence and expiration dates.

In “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, I noticed milk was still delivered at the front door back in those days.

Fresh milk. Expiration date: today.

Our lives will end on their expiration dates. But for now, we need to keep feeding it with healthy nourishment, a steady diet of vitamin combo and endorphin (laughters).

And yes, please cry. Grief and loss are parts of life. A life without pain is no life at all. So is a life without joy, its flip side. Until…

When it’s time.