I was 74 all of last year
but I thought I was 75.

As my birthday grew near
I did the math again.
OMG
I’m only 74; I missed
a whole year! We spent
no time together, no sunsets.

Already I miss her, the one
I never knew. The one
who got away.

Matthew Eichenlaub’s story is a wake-up call to himself: live in the present quit thinking of a future drawing to a close or a past broken drowning in sludge.