I. Measures of time
In ages past we have mapped the skies
Chartered its cycles
And plotted time against calendar and clock
Today we replace cogs with quartz
And tick-tock with digital pulse
Surrounding ourselves with time fragments
We have tugged and teased the elastic of time
In our stretching towards the stars
Light years beyond our reach
We have sliced and diced the heartbeat of time
In our journeying inside the atom
Vibrating at femto-second pace
We have analysed time in our laboratories
As if by dissecting a butterfly
We can understand its beauty
II. Music of time
Time is a song
With interwoven sounds, rhythms and rhymes
Of harmony and discord
Humanity is deaf to the music of time
Fallen out of sync and out of tune
With the universal resonance
We have become slaves
To the hour, the quarter, the year
Chained to artificial time
We should be dancing to the beat
Of the moon, the generations, the living earth
Liberated by nature’s time
Instead, we are dying
Poisoned by our selfish short-sightedness
But time will not blink an eye at our passing
III. Masks of time
Time is a cruel slayer
When it destroys our youth, our hopes and dreams
And reclaims our loved ones
Time is a kind benefactor
When it nurtures our wisdom, our pleasures and passions
And fuels evolution in all life
Time is an impassive onlooker
When it observes our species, our civilizations and planet
And sees cycles of birth and death
Time is a master magician
When it conjures our memories, our desires and destinies
And tricks us into believing
Time is an innocent child
When it plays with building blocks of the universe
And creates marvels of energy and light
IV. Masters of time
Our greatest power
Lies in the choices we make
About how we spend our time
Time is clay in our hands
For us to mould and manipulate, to shape and sculpt
Into symbols of meaning
Time does not dictate to us
Whether to heal or harm, to love or hate
But time and karma are allies
Time smiles on concerted effort
Frowns on lazy expectations of entitlement
And rewards diligence and perseverance
Our greatest task
Lies in how we are able respond
To the gifts of time
V. Mysteries of time
Scientists and mystics rent the veil
On the temple of absolute time
Revealing a fourth dimension of relativity
Seers and prophets removed the mask
On the face of linear time
Gazing with equal clarity on past, present and future
Astronomers and imagineers opened the portal
On the matrix of time travel possibilities
Journeying through wormholes in space and mind
Yet many secrets remain
Held by time close to her breast
Until we are brave enough to call her bluff
Some say that God is eternal
That our destiny lies within a timeless realm
Only time will tell!
Wayne Visser © 2001
Book
String, Donuts, Bubbles and Me: Favourite Philosophical Poems
This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together philosophical poems by Wayne Visser. In this anthology, he muses on subjects ranging from space, angels and destiny to time, science and meaning in life. According to scientists / The world’s made of string / That buzzes and fuzzes / Or some such strange thing / It’s also a donut / That curls round a hole / With middles and riddles / Just like a fish bowl / And there’s no mistaking / It’s more than 3-D / With twenty or plenty / Dimensions unseen / Still others insist / It’s really a bubble / That’s popping and bopping / Through the lenses of Hubble. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.
