How long does a human life last?
Perhaps a little over a hundred years,
maximum. How long is the life of a
house? A few hundred years? How long is the life of the ivy that climbs
over the ruins when the house falls, looking for support to grow? How long is
the life of the trees that have started to grow within the ruins of the
house, which still holds half-fallen walls, but soon will only support the ivy that
will leave the ruins useless? How long is
the life of the moss that grows on the bark of living and dead trees, on
rooftops sunk and scattered on soft earth, on river stones and mountain tops? How long does a forest live? How long a mountain? How long is the life of the small
river that may already have dried up long ago, but created the valley and sustained
the mountains? How long is the
life of water, which is always the same and always different? How long is the life of a cloud fashioned
by the last water drops of the river before it dried out? How long is the life of the rain that
will bring the river back to life, that will carve a new valley and sustain new
mountains, that will allow new forests to grow new trees that will support new
ivy that will provide shade to new people living inside the new walls made from
the foundation of the old ruins?
How long does time last?
Translated by Lina Strenio