It's Midweek Motif at Poets United.
Carpe diem is to be the topic. I offer
a poem I wrote some time ago, before
I retired. Strange to look back at that
younger me, longing for leisure moments.
Now my days ARE filled with leisure, and
I can savor the moments.
Submitted to Poets United
February 28, 2018
*************
As I speed along the freeway
In the usual morning race
My thoughts turn back to other times
When life had a slower pace
When there was time for dreaming
And wriggling our toes in the mud
And close examination
Of each leaf and flower and bud.
For listening to autumn breezes
As they rustled through fields of grain
And for smelling the wondrous fresh bouquet
Of a late spring evening rain
For idling under a shade tree
When no one knew where I was
And studying the intricate mechanics
Of what makes bumblebees buzz.
For listening to trills of songbirds
As they flit from tree to tree
While I looked for four-leaf clovers
In grass like a great green sea.
It seems now my days are so busy
These pleasures are things of the past
I try to find time for dreaming
But life races by too fast
I think of the time when I’m older,
With time on my hands again.
How I’ll treasure those special moments
Much moreso than I did then.
For God in his infinite wisdom
Has bestowed a very great favor
What in youth we take for granted
In old age we have time to savor.
***********
Digital art is mine (with help from
John William Waterhouse)
Very wise and beautiful words. The youth should read this....and take heed!
ReplyDeleteI, too, love the slow pace at this time of life after so many too busy decades. I especially like your two closing lines.......time to savor. Such a gift.
ReplyDeleteLove your digital art and poem.
ReplyDeleteWhat a gentle rhythm to the poem!
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone could say better than this Bev. We should be forgiven for reminiscing of past times as we recall all our life's adventures and hope the present generation is as fortunate as us as well.
ReplyDeleteFrom your mouth to God's ear! I hope I have instilled appreciation for things past, and savoring in the present in my children!
DeleteExcellent. Love the rhythm of the poem.
ReplyDeleteAll these phases of life are beautiful just in accord with age. Thank God we do have 'time to savor'. Love the rhythm Bev.
ReplyDeleteI love the way the rhythm of the poem matches the pace of a speeding along the freeway and life racing by too fast. Over the past couple of days, when it has been so bitterly cold and the snow has prevented me from getting out, I am so relieved that I am retired and there is time for dreaming, although time does pass quickly! I'm looking forward to soon indulging in some close examination of leaves and buds, but I'll forget about autumn breezes for a while. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kim. We missed out on the snow. Ours came in rain ... days and days of rain. As a matter of fact, it's raining today! I do believe the grass is beginning to green, however! Hang in there!
Delete"What in youth we take for granted
ReplyDeleteIn old age we have time to savor."
And it is a feat to have found our way to what this poem could only guess at. Prescient!
This is lovely, Bev. You've beautifully captured the life and joys of daydreaming, I'd like to experience again. What a blessing is retirement! Enjoy. And your digital art is amazing.
ReplyDelete... oh those days when all I had to be sure of was to shut the screen door behind me and the day was mine - almost as you described. Lovely.
ReplyDelete