We who with songs beguile your pilgrimage / And swear that Beauty lives though lilies die, / We Poets of the proud old lineage / Who sing to find your hearts, we know not why ... (James Elroy Flecker)

17.11.18

After Ten Years


After Ten Years

(Reunion with a young friend)


'I'm 78,' I  told him. (I was, then.)
He was amazed. Nevertheless 

he said, of some hinted, unspecified woes:
'I'll tell you later. Plenty of time.'

Just how much time do you imagine 
I've got? I questioned silently.

Off he went again, always the traveller.
Time runs on. The silence lengthens.

16 comments:

  1. I often think the same thing........i so relate!

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  2. Best not to think about it, Rosemary - it's probably not important. Ten minutes, ten days, months or years - time is only a human concept. I aim to enjoy the now. :)

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  3. Back for another read. How much time indeed? I silently ask that of my children, with their busy lives, who put off phone calls and visits for some Tomorrow down the road.

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  4. As it is said "Youth is wasted on the young". However I am not sure whether being like "Mork" from Ork is any better starting off old and gradually getting younger!

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  5. This is incredibly poignant, Rosemary!❤️ While none of us know how much time we have left in this world... I hope yours is content, healthy and peaceful. Love and hugs to you!❤️

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  6. Even the young don't always have all the time they expected. Carpe diem.

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  7. Perhaps he's right, there's still plenty of time for both of you.
    amazing short poem, stops one in his tracks and makes him ponder.

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  8. I wonder if the drama half-hinted was forgotten the next day, only to be tracked across all the interactions had prior to the forgetting. *hides behind chair* Guilty of that, sometimes.

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  9. I think, if it's important it has to be told at once...
    Never waste it by waiting.

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  10. The last year of my mother's life, with a sense of foreboding/foreseeing, I would say to myself cherish this moment, tell your mother, etc. I am glad I did .

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  11. Haha... time to saddle the horse...
    You painted a clear picture.
    ZQ

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  12. Yes. It's hard for some people to think of our demise, or theirs. I think they wish if they keep moving death won't catch up. But, we're wiser than that aren't we?

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  13. I'm all about doing it now, since no one knows what tomorrow will bring (or not). I can totally relate with the tone of incredulity and mild exasperation of the speaker.

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  14. What a cliffhanger! I want him to tell now.

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  15. The endless time of space goes passing by, this time around.

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