TIME…
So linear and confined
I am told,
and it does seem true;
Yet I think of all the skips,
all the turns,
the flowing river makes
as it twists and bends,
from its origin as a newborn brook;
down mountains
through valleys
weaving its way,
until finally it merges
with the mighty river below
strong in its purposeful flow;
Letting us be streams within
meandering as we go.
We calculate our progress
in years and days,
following the calender prescribed;
Not the rhythm of the moon or sun,
Some panic, they fear the big 0,s.
I say, it is just another day and night,
if you wish, tell your friends
you took another stream,
so they have to wait with the balloons
another year or so;
Whilst we twist and turn, leap and sing
before joining ocean so vast and deep,
becoming part of the whole.
© miriam ivarson
photos by Miriam Ivarson
very beautiful! Both the picture and the poem.😊
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thank you John, coming from a photographer it is special validation.:)
Glad the poem spoke to you too.
Soliga hälsningar från min trädgård
miriam
LikeLiked by 1 person
We do indeed ‘twist and turn’, and life will take its course, come what may. Your image is a powerful one, Miriam, and your words flow with ease.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thank you Roland for your deeply felt response.
Yes, I do think there are very few whose lives don’t twist and turn and surprise us. At times very positively.
Miriam
LikeLiked by 1 person
wonderful!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you Jim.
miriam
LikeLike
I love this! Your photo is the perfect fit too. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you Jennifer. The waterfall is called ” Älgafallet” and approx 15 min drive from my dreamplace in Sweden. A beautiful place with wonderful
walking area…and picnic .🍕🍪 .
miriam
LikeLike
Miriam, the imagery you create in this poem blends life and science beautifully. Your photos are lovely.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thank you so much for your great comment. I find your observation interesting. I am glad you liked the photos too. 😊 .
miriam
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like the space in time idea in your title that fits with the rest of this beautifully flowing poem.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Lynn, very sensitively observed. Yes, it was deliberate with the
spacing. I am glad you felt a flow as it should with so much water in it. 😉 .
miriam
LikeLike
Beautifully penned and authentic analogy of life, Miriam… ❤ Sharing… xo
LikeLiked by 2 people
Bette, your comment makes me smile, quite some praise. Thank you.
❤️🦋
miriam
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hugs & Happy Weekend, Miriam! ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Miriam, this poem took me far above the mountains, from where a little stream starts, conquering its space, making a loud roar, cascading down the boulders…a reminder – neither time nor life can be halted…despite all the turns and travails, it shimmers, it bends, it gathers strength yet it sends a profound message of – ‘keep going.’ I have witnessed this kind of splendor and picked up the message.
I love how your thoughts keep pace with the flow of carefree stream, dear friend. Keep inspiring!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thank you for your beautiful comment Balroop, it is wonderful how your words and thoughts join in cascading down the boulders and mountains. ” Conquering its space” . You get quite poetic yourself and your words are beautiful. If I inspire I am blessed. 💕
miriam
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love your poem, Miriam. Beautiful in expression, in flow, in imagery, in vision ❤
We humans do get caught up in the limits of time and fear aging. I believe that we become so fixated on the physical that we are incapable of "becoming part of the whole" of this living organism we call Earth where life – death and birth – is a continual flow of cosmic energy. Much like the "ocean so vast and deep."
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Rosaliene for your wonderful response which is a deeply warming praise.
Your second paragraph is so strong and beautiful that I refer readers to read it. Every word is true also in my heart and I am honoured to have inspired these words of yours.
miriam
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Letting us be streams within, meandering as we go.” An excellently succint description of the “cosmic stream,” wherein we all ride the currents of time
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Phil for this warm and deep comment. The cosmic stream indeed,
May we all dare ride them and not hang on to the river edge in fear.
miriam
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are quite welcome. excellent was a poor word choice but I was in semi shock from that gem of a line sitting there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow! 😀 Miriam, a poem of beauty and magnitude which brings the incomprehensible within our scope of understanding. You analogy of time to the running water, from the ‘newborn brook’ to ‘ocean so vast’ is inspired … suddenly the passing of time becomes an adventure with various tributaries, the flow of our lives endless and eternal. Thank you for this bright ray of wisdom! ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Annika, thank you for your positive and warming answer. I am so glad you
liked the analogy, it came to me “out of the blue” . I had pondered time often
and found it worrying how more and more measured it seems to be. As if we are trying to tame it and box it in.
I love your analogy of time becoming an adventure. I couldn’t agree more.
An adventure where even today we don’t really know what is going to happen, exciting and maybe scary but true.
miriam
LikeLiked by 1 person
“your life took another stream”
I like that. It’s those other streams that make life interesting.
I composed a toast for a friend’s wedding, comparing their lives to streams, each taking its own course before joining. When it was finished, I realized it was a poem. That’s when I knew I wanted to write poetry.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Ken, I am glad you liked that line. It is important to dare and to follow what you know is true.
I am delighted to hear you used this in a speech that became a poem.
Do you still have the poem? It would be lovely to see it.
miriam
LikeLike
A very thoughtful poem, Miriam. The style of writing suites the topic well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Robbie for your lovely response. I guess the way we write is to some extent dictated by which emotions come forth.
miriam
LikeLiked by 1 person
A beautiful way to describe life’s course Miriam, the gentle flow, twists and turns, I particularly like the end , the big ocean, which I read as a collective subconscious, where we all meld as one and become God, life-force or other such term.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you very much Nigel and you are so right about the ocean.
As for the whole poem I am trying to show that time is the same,
Like the brook, river….and like life , it flows.
Miriam
LikeLike
Lovely poem and encouragement! Thanks Miriam.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, I am glad you liked it and felt good vibes from the words.
Nice to see you here.
miriam
LikeLike
Coming full circle . . . Beautiful, Miriam ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Tina for you wise response. ❤️ .
miriam
LikeLike
Beautiful and thought provoking poetry Miriam. I love your notion that ageing is just taking another stream and finding another flow. There are often rocks in the way but we always find a way to flow around them and, as you poetically say, into the same ocean.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Davy, thanks for your wonderful response. I am always fascinated and
delighted at how many sides readers can see in my words. Wonderful that.
You have seen the ageing part and yes, it is so true.
And whichever stream we follow we do indeed end up in the same ocean.🦋😊 .
miriam
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well done, Miriam! I love the comparison of life to a stream, and how our journey twists and turns through time until we rejoin the whole. Beautiful!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Julie. It all started with me hearing a definate statement that time is linear. Full stop. It got me going and some weeks later I saw a whole series of events.
So glad you also agree with the flow and twists and turns.💕
Miriam
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such elegance in the flow of your words, Miriam, which go wonderfully with your gorgeous photos. You wrote about time and life, the twists and turns, the many different streams so beautifully…💕
LikeLike
Thank you for your generous and warm answer, it is a wonder to reach
the heart of a reader.
Water delights and soothes most of us and I am always drawn to it. In the
face of nature’s forces it suddenly feels as if my problems are insignificant.
Well…almost.😊 .
miriam
LikeLike
So beautiful, Miriam. I love the water metaphor for our journey through time. ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Diana for your warm response. I am glad you like the flowing water as a methafor. 🦋 .
miriam
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely poem, and picture, Miriam. Time is a concept I ponder from time to time. It seems necessary, yet so transient…and in the big picture probably has little meaning.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your thoughtful response Tiny. I guess our modern
society would come to a halt without clocktime. It is transient though
and must not take over our lives too much.
miriam
LikeLike
Poetic and Profound! 🔆 Oh yes, so true: ” We calculate our progress in years and days, following the calender prescribed; Not the rhythm of the moon or sun”….Now is the Time to be here, talk to the Moon and Sun…🌅
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Merit for your kind compliment and your thoughtful words.
What came to me mind just now was the famed poem starting:
” what is this life, so full of care
There is no time to stand and stare……..”
Rushing through life with the eyes on the seconds does not leave much room for observation or happiness.
miriam
LikeLike
The big Os never seemed to bother me. For me life has gotten better since I retired!
dwight
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for your comment Dwight and welcome to my blog.
If you passed enough O ‘s to retire it means you now can use time following new and creative ideas. You say it has got better since you retired so I guess the press is of.
All the best
miriam
LikeLike
Such a funny thing, time. No matter how much I scold, it just won’t sit still!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Jen for your fun response. No, time is flowing and we with it, no matter how hard you cling to the river bank.
Thanks for visiting my blog.
miriam
LikeLike
I like the part about telling our friends we took another stream, that sounds like a really neat adventure waiting to happen.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Gina, you got that absolutely right and have me smiling. That was the little
wicked adventures I had in mind. Just see what happens if we dare chance the other stream.
Thank you 😊 .
miriam
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is so very beautiful, Miriam! You’ve described time and it’s fluency so lovely and I also like the encouragement you give to take another stream if we prefer. The big 0’s can indeed be a bit frightening at first sight but then all we have to do is to realize that it only symbolizes our achievement to still be alive and that has to be celebrated indeed. 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Sarah for your wonderful comment, it does rather give me encouragement. 🙂
Yes, I definately believe we have the option to take another stream whenever we feel it is called for.
To explore without fear. Personally I celebrate each birthday with gratitude that I could come to this
planet. We have to do it the way we feel I guess.
miriam
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you !
LikeLike