Photo: Kyle Therrian
Excuse me, Sir–do you have the time?
It’s time to watch the bees that ravish stems of lavender,
to listen to the cluck of quail, the song of wrens.
It’s time to hold our world, her pain, in caring arms,
to see great beauty in an aged face.
But can you tell me, sir, what time it is?
It’s time to feel your heart that beats within your chest,
to watch the setting sun slip out of view,
to touch the velvet smoothness of a rose,
or roughest skin upon acacia’s trunk.
Forgive now, for it’s time to heal the past,
to mend the wounds of rancor and of hate.
My watch has stopped, dear friend—
just let me know the time.
The time is now. It’s always, only now.
Photo: naturespaceandhope.com
Written for dVerse Poetics where Mary has us reflecting on and writing about TIME. I suspect that, when I edit this, it will take on a few additional stanzas! Please take the time to stop by and enjoy. The doors open Tuesday, 3:00 PM EDT
Victoria C. Slotto, Author 
ah it is definitely that time….to make reparations…to be awake…to see…to experience…and to heal for sure…we can not put these things off for we may never have that time again…
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Victoria this is a glorious poem….so full of truth and thought provoking. Certainly the time is now.
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the time is now! yes….to catch up with such lovely verses. i am glad i did not miss this!
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Love the idea of time to mend…stopping to smell the roses and all of that, just wish it would be still for a bit once in awhile too.
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beautiful message you have here..present moment is the only one…and we have to connect to nature..:)
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Love this one, V! I’m always intrigued with time: having it, keeping it, knowing it, spending it, wasting it… But time is not a thing; it’s a construct. And you’re right, it’s always now. That’s all we need to know about time. Although anyone who schedules trains or planes would probably disagree… 😉
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Beautiful images…gentle and wise. The time is now…who knows if you will be here tomorrow!
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Victoria,
Reading your poem was time well spent.
Cheers,
Mark Butkus
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Bravo! Potent, insightful… a cute tinge of quirkiness. Love this.
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I love the ending, that time is always now… very much enjoyed reading your poem 🙂
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The presentation, the thought that went behind this – I am truly impressed – love every bit of this gently expressed reminder of what is important…
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a lovely message. it is very easy to forget to look around and enjoy the moment. I question-response-conversation feel if this.
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Can you tell me the time? There is so much to enjoy and experience in the hands of time. I really like to listen to the beat of my heart.
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Lovely words here–the quail, the wrens, the setting sun–it’s time to pay attention to all that is around us. Wonderful work!
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ah…multifaceted time..and now is the best…
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I love the different aspects of time, from bees to mending the hurts & wounds of hate ~
But most speccially your ending line of now, its always now ~
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This poem is pure awesomeness and perfection.
Such wisdom and heart. I love this poem a lot. 🙂
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Double like…message and words!
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The ‘now’ is such a simple and important message Victoria and you have conveyed it so well. Well done I did enjoy this poem.
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A beautiful message about time and how we use it, Victoria. Choices…choices…
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There is a saying: “life is a shit sandwich–but the more bread you have the less shit you have to eat.”–take that Time! I like your lines /It’s time to hold our world, her pain, in loving arms/to see great beauty in an aged face/.
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There’s so much we can say about time. But what you’ve already said is quite enough because it’s so true. Still, I know if you add stanza’s they’ll be as lovely as these.
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So lovely, Victoria.
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What a lovely conversation! We are too often in a hurry, and I’m so glad I took the time to read this lovely and wise piece!
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A light tone in chatty style – but the content is deep, true and real..
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I really love this piece and the exploration of time. The time really is NOW.
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time to stop and drink the beauty and time to heal wounds and forgive….there’s a time for everything – and part of wisdom is to know what time it is now… our heart tells us i think
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My time today has been spent a) proofreading a job application for Sally and b) losing the file. I found it after hours of fruitless searching and a ten-minute teach-in on the new computer! So poetry is the last thing on my mind.
But your poem has calmed me and cheered me up immensely!
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My husband teases me that when we moved to the lake, I stopped wearing shoes and a watch – smiles – ‘Forgive now” resonates with me especially – leave nothing to regret – always forgive. Lovely thoughts this morning, Victoria – K
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What a great poem and wonderful message! I am slowly, but hopefully surely, learning how to live in the here and now since it is all we’ve got.
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Beautiful, true, spiritual. It took me a long time to learn (I’m still working on understanding) that NOW is all we have, all we have a chance to control. Lovely, Victoria!
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Victoria, I agree 100% with your message, and I love the way you expressed it. Now is the only time we have; and I think that a person realizes this more when one is older than when one is younger, when our yesterdays number more than tomorrows. We need to take the TIME to appreciate each day & realize as well that if we don’t mend fences TODAY they probably will not be mended in the morrow. Today, today, today – yes! It is a day to listen to the sound of wrens.
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