Archive for December 31st, 2013

A Willingness To Be Present

December 31, 2013

Another post from earlier this year … as we prepare to move forward from 2013.

Tom's avatarIn a dim light...

—∞—

The threshold
Of the future
Is pulled forward
Slowly and surely
Second by second
 
Or stands still
As the past
Slips away
Retreating fitfully
But never completely
 
Our yesterdays linger
Sometimes
Directly behind
Taunting
Or back around a dim corner
 
Barely accessible
If warm and pleasant
Abruptly intrusive
Uninvited
If unhappy or filled with regrets
 
But what of our tomorrows?
Sometimes
Filled with hopes and dreams
Or other times with dread
Uncertainty
 
Days and years
Lying ahead
Our dwelling place
To be
Fleetingly or longer
 
Yet, they are
Empty
Years
Waiting to be filled
By us or circumstance
 
Health, family
Resources, friends
A spiritual foundation
A sense
Of the Other
 
All shape
A life to come
But, really, isn’t it now,
The present,
That will ultimately decide?
 
Our sense of self
Now
Our willing to be
Now
Our gratitude –

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Memories

December 31, 2013

Today, as we step into another year, has me reflecting on this recent post as well as rereading (for the umpteenth time) Eliot’s Burnt Norton

Tom's avatarIn a dim light...

—∞—
 
Remembering the past
People, places
Events, feelings
From what vantage point?
I wasn’t there …really.
Oh, the person
I used to be
Back when
Most assuredly was there,
But, perhaps, not present
 
Who has ever been
“There” enough
Enough to see, feel
Enough to be present
Really present?
Was there an awareness
Then as now?
Am I remembering concerns,
Worries, hopes, fears
That weren’t even present then?
 
Who we are now
Seems so well-defined
Yet all of our past is colored,
Distorted, magnified
By today’s presence
Today’s presence
Erasing yesterday’s being
Yesterday’s being
Evaporating
Amidst today’s remembrances.

 © 2013 Thomas W. Cummins

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