Life Experiences At Passing Times Poem by Reginald Reid

TIMES

I have seen the seasons come and go,
Watched the waters ebb and flow,
Felt the sands of time
Raise hills that I can never climb,
Smelled the scent of new mown hay,
And crushed dry grass in drought's dry day.

I've walked along the mountain tops,
Descended valleys ‘neath sheer cliff top drops,
Crossed the open plains
Where neither beast nor man's seen rains,
Wondered at the stars at night,
And rested in the moon's cold light.

The wind has blown my greying hair,
I've heard the sound of nothing there,
Felt the rain upon my skin,
Known the voice that speaks within
Where all is secret but to one,
And it tells me that times will come.

There are times when things occur,
Things from which we can't demur.
We plan but are surprised
When all is change before our eyes.
And do we see the essential reality?
What is it that is really meant to be?

Now is a time of great profusion.
Abundance brings its own confusion
When plenty is far too much.
That which was sought denies the clutch
Of previously desperate and needing,
Just at a time when hope was breeding.

We have had rains so plentiful
The rivers run and dams are full.
Now crops are ruined. Devastation!
The news rings out across the nation.
And what do we hear of far off places,
Where they are starving and the drowning in millions, those other races?

We hear of farmland profits lost,
The damage bill the awful cost,
A life or two lost in the flood.
We're now immune to wartime blood.
Somewhere else snow falls become a blizzard,
While across the world Wikileaks is someone's wizard.

Save the whales and ban the bomb.
Buy insurance for your tomb.
So much there to bring you comfort
When you've got plenty for the poor to covet.
It's their own fault you'll hear some say
Until it's their time one rainy day.

Look about and seek the real meaning
Is it just about social greening?
Recall the images of devastation, suffering,
The dispossessed as they are wandering.
Measure your own situation,
A trick of time and fate born in this nation.

Celebrate these times of plenty.
Of good things be the cognoscenti.
Rejoice now for that is all you have for certain.
Time will call the final curtain.
Make the most of this fleeting revelry,
This momentary opportunity.