Poetry Thursday - "Memory"

~Memory~

And you wait, await the one thing
that will infinitely increase your life;
the gigantic, the stupendous,
the awakening of stones,
depths turned round toward you.

The volumes in brown and gold
flicker dimly on the bookshelves;
and you think of lands traveled through,
of paintings, of the garments
of women found and lost.

And then all at once you know: that was it.
You rise, and there stands before you
the fear and prayer and shape
of a vanished year.

-Rainer Maria Rilke-


How often we live in the midst of memories. Enfolded in the moments of beauty that once graced our lives, entangled in the moments of chaos, reliving what has already been lived. We walk through our days, believing that we are living, believing that we are experiencing the richness of the sunset and the purity of the white wildflowers. Are we truly enjoying the fullness of the moment, or simply following the slice’s of life’s beauty down well-trodden paths?

How often we all awaken, only to realize that so many days, too many days, have passed. We choose to dwell in moments lost or to cast our hope upon the illusory promise of tomorrows. We wait, believing that what we want, or what we’ve had, is the illuminating experience that will define the true essence of our being.

How seldom we allow ourselves the luxury of THIS moment. May we all embrace the present and may we stop finding ourselves looking back, wondering where the time has gone. For the truth is…the time is NOW!