Monday, July 25, 2011

The Nature of Time



THE NATURE OF TIME
The Time that rules my life
Is a very wayward creature.
It is rigidly prescribed
Yet fluidity is a feature.
So slow, so slow the seconds
When heavy hangs the time;
So short, so short the blessed days
When the living is sublime.
Last year's mad adventures
Seem but a blink away;
But oh the aeons of tick and tock
Since this time yesterday!
We recall, as days of long ago,
The era of our birth,
Yet we casually speak of the billion years
Since dinosaurs walked the earth.
Time can make our lives  seem long
As it stretches out and lingers,
Or it can make our lives seem short
As it slips between our fingers.
*
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NATURE'S CANVAS

An artist chooses carefully when a canvas is in view;
He knows exactly what's required for what he wants to do.
He'll size the canvas up and down and view it from all sides;
He'll take note of the texture and other things besides.
Does he want it pristine white, or with a touch of grey?
Does he need this size or that? And how much must he pay?
He stretches it, he fingers it, he ums and ahs a lot
Till finally he's satisfied with the canvas that he's got.
But Nature's not so choosy. Take this stretch of stony ground;
The sort that we don't notice when we're looking all around.
Unprepossessing! That's the word; with nothing worth a mention;
And why it would be chosen is beyond my comprehension.
But Nature chose to sketch on it a work that, you'll agree,
Is a delicate arrangement of leafy filigree.
*

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I enjoy reading your work, thank you for sharing :)

Marbles in My Pocket said...

I agree! Time is sometimes friend, sometimes foe. Fast then slow. Who invented clocks and calendars anyway! Throw the bums out!
Love the poem! Please pardon my irreverence!

Anonymous said...

I love the second ones simplicity and beauty of the picture.

Anonymous said...

lovely verse, thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

there is beauty everywhere. you just have to look.

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

agreed.
brilliant thoughts.

PhotoDiction said...

The truth about time can be harsh. Your poem adds a softness to it for its rhyhtm and imagery. I also like the second poem, the thoughts of the painter and his/her relationship with the canvas before them. Very nice.

vivinfrance said...

Rinkly, two minds with but a single ... But yours is so much better written that I want to junk mine!

I liked your painterly thoughts, too.

Ron. said...

Great stuff. Oh, the infinite ticks and tocks since yesterday, until tomorrow. Well done.

barbara said...

Time does play tricks. "These Boots Are Made for Walking" turns 45 this year. That's quite a hike.

Anonymous said...

I loved both of these. The first one is captivating. It explains and expresses at the same time. And the second is such a sweet pondering.

ds said...

I enjoyed both of these very much. And I am impressed that you were able to use "unprepossessing"--and it worked!!
Thank you.