#time

THE DUALITY OF TIME

 

There are intervals in life… like celebrating dinner with our niece 

that are wonderfully sublime…

Times when I am overwhelmed by the duality of time

 

For instance wasn’t it just the other day…into this world our niece arrived?

If that’s the case…

how can this beautiful and talented young woman across form us…now be 25? 

 

And how time which is always moving forward…and always moving fast

will sometimes slow down for us on our trip to the future from the past.

 

Which leads to another time perception I have never truly comprehended…

how during dinner with our niece…did time slow down…it’s as if it was suspended?

 

Except for a musician in the corner of the restaurant…whose music filled the air… 

Deborah, Natalie, and I were the only people there.

 

We visited for a couple hours…talking about life and love and family

but it wasn’t until we prepared to leave I was struck by times duality.

 

It’s as if in our two hours together…times was nullified…

I hadn’t heard one song from the musician…

and now…the restaurant was fully occupied!

 

I wonder if time understands how we live in moments…

and being that she is compassionate…as well as wiser and much stronger…

she allows some of these moment in our life…to last a little longer…

 

Moments like with our niece Natalie (with family and friends)

knowing…since she is time…she’ll catch up in the end.

 

I’m okay with time moving forward…never visiting the same moment again

as long as in some moments she takes a moment…every now and then

 

and allows herself and the rest of the world to fade into the background…to recede….

and…like she did in a restaurant with our niece…

she slows down…to give us all the time we need.

 
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THANKFUL FOR TIME

 

Today I’m thankful for one of the truly beautiful paradoxes of life

Time…

and all she’s given to me…

and for her ability to be priceless…

at the same time…she is free.

 

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THANKFUL FOR TIME

 

May we be blessed to acknowledge all the wonders in our life 

that have, for us, thus far accrued…

and to begin each day with a word of thanks…

and thoughts of gratitude.

 

Today I’m thankful for the gift of time

allowing me to enjoy the beauty of a moment

and to express my thanks in rhyme…

 

To cherish every moment 

leading to every sunset…

arising from every dawn

knowing each moment is entrusted to us briefly…

until the moment’s gone…

 

Thankful for each moment, however brief,

and the joy each moment brings…

Confident there is another joyous moment

waiting in the wings

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OUR HOURGLASS

 

 From the moment we are born…the moment our head first pops out…

the hourglass of our life turns over and our time begins to run out.

 

Of course we don’t understand this when we’re young…

how time itself is so constraining

but, one day, we realize we need to find a balance…in the time we have remaining.

 

A balance between what is primary and what is secondary in our lives…

A balance between work and play

A balance between the time we spend with those we love…

and the time we spend away.

 

It’s realizing one of the benefits…perhaps the greatest gift of time…

is the many ways there are to fill it…that do not cost a dime.

 

It’s holding hands…taking a walk…watching a butterfly emerge from a cocoon…

It’s watching a sunset as a family…or smiling together at the moon.

 

It’s spending time with those who truly matter

without feeling regret or guilt or doubt….

for those will be the times remembered…

when our sands of time run out.

 

Yes, your hourglass is there to remind you…as all hourglasses do…

how you can’t save time…you can only spend it…

and how you spend it…is totally up to you.

 

(You may have noticed this poem is shorter…it doesn’t contain as many rhymes…

that’s so reading it would not take up…too much of your time.) :)

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WITH THE TIME WE HAVE LEFT

 

We know the exact moment our time began

but, since we don’t know when it will end

may we be blessed to think of time less as an enemy

and accept her as a friend

 

And in the span that she has given us

before she puts us all to bed

may we treat the world with kindness

and leave no important word unsaid.

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BACK ON MOUNTAIN TIME

 

I’m sorry if this poem’s a little late today…it’s not that I had trouble with the rhyme

but now that we’re in North Carolina we have switched to mountain time.

 

It’s not that we no longer care…or we’ve become too laxed…

its just…up her in the mountains…we know how to relax.

 

A pipe is broken in the kitchen… there’s water leaking through the wall

we’d like it fixed today if possible so we give the plumber a call.

 

Bobby is out hunting, it’s the first day of fishing season and Jimmy…well he’s a fisherman…

Cliff will be there, Bobby assures us,…when he finishes working on his van.

 

The sign reads ‘We Open at 9:00…we have everything you need…and more’.

but it wasn’t til 9:30 when Frances opened up the door.

 

When she went to check her tomatoes this morning…there were ripe ones on the vine

and there’s no way she could pick them all…and open the story by nine..

 

The only check-out line at France’s store moved slowly but do not be dismayed

Peggy was delivering her latest batch of honey…the best her bees have ever made.

 

There’s something to be said for the patient and gentle way

in which the people in the mountains meander through their day.

 

It makes them a little more carefree, their demeanor cordial and sweet.

Many of the people in the mountains are the nicest people you could meet.

 

Cliff got around to fix our plumbing problem, France’s store was a place to celebrate,

Peggy’s honey was delicious….you might say they were worth the wait. 

 

Which made us ask ourselves this question 

as time constraints oftentimes can make us fuss

are we controlling time...or is time controlling us? 

 

So tomorrow or the next day I’m not sure when I’ll post my rhyme

If I’m a little late, no worries...you see I’m back on mountain time.

 
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MEMORY AND TIME

 

I’m in awe of my memory…all those snapshots and movies it’s amassed…

Providing me with a simple way to revisit moments from my past.

 

I was visiting old friends this morning who across my memory have spread…

Smiling as their pictures and their movies danced inside my head.

 

I enjoyed watching the show…catching up with every him…and every her…

and it made me realize the beauty of memory is how it captures the way we were.

 

I was happy when I realized…after taking those memories out to play

how some of those friends from my memories…are still my friends today.

 

How we’ve all grown a little older…hopefully with dignity and grace…

How there is still a youthfulness behind our eyes despite more wrinkles on our face.

 

Which helps me see in old friends the beauty of this truth…

How they not only reveal the passage of time…

but remind us of our youth.

 

And when old friends get together…

when we’re fortunate enough to relive moments we all hoped would never end….

that’s when we realize nothing sweetens up a memory more…

than the laughter of old friends.

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THE GREATEST TREASURE

 

 

What is the greatest treasure we can give our children?

It’s a question all parents wrestle with…

many think it’s wealth and money…but I think that’s a myth.

 

It could stem from the fact I didn’t make a lot of money wearing a teacher’s hat….

but we had enough and I’ve come to believe…it is much more than that.

 

I was home when my children were home.

If there was trouble…I was there to help them through.

I never missed a game or a concert…we had the same vacations too.

 

I was there to teach them things they’d never learn in school.

I was there to laugh and sing and dance with them…

I was not afraid to look like a fool…

 

I saw them at their best and worst behavior…

brimming with joy…or feeling sad and blue…

They saw me the same…and learned how I was human too.

 

When it comes to the life we have created…

when I think of each individual family member…

In the end…will it be the money…or the time spent…they’ll remember.

 

When my final days on earth are over…

When I’ve reached the end of my climb…

Will our final wish together be we had more money…

or will we wish for a little more time.

 

Yes, it’s a question all parent wrestle with…

sometimes it continues non-stop…

I'm just thankful when they wrestled in my life…

time came out on top.

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LIKE A RIVER

 

LIKE A RIVER

 

I’ve always been captivated by water…from the raindrops that parachute out of the clouds…to the ocean and the sea…but it’s the relationship between a river and time that has always fascinated me.

 

It’s like I’m floating on a river of time

that sometimes seems to move slowly and other times to race…

but despite my illusions to the contrary moves forward at a slow and steady pace.

 

It’s a river that keeps moving whether I am sleeping or awake…

flowing from my past into my present and my future with every move I make.

 

Life on the river of time is lived in moments…

ephemeral, fleeting and sweet…

each present moment is the intersection of where my past and future meet.

 

Each present moment is a catalyst…

it’s where my hopes and dreams come from…

joining my past…made up of all those present moments I’ve left behind…

and my future…all those present moments yet to come. 

 

I imagine that’s what fascinates me…

and why I feel so much affection….

for the inextricable bond between 

the river and time connection.

 

Reminding me as I ride this river…

if I cherish every present moment…

knowing they’re here only for a short while…

I can look back on my past with joy…

and look to my future with a smile.

 

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