Ph: Life: Living Time Poem by Brian Johnston

By living in the moment time is wisely spent,
But our own expectations mean that time is lent
To other’s paths, who frequently without consent,
Regard our missing time as theirs and pay no rent,
A vacuum left whenever we are heaven bent
To shield ourselves from joining life’s experiment.

To really join life’s game you must demand your due
No dancing by yourself and when the day is through
You’ll find that what you’ve gained is more than what you knew
And someone else has shared what you now know is true
No longer left alone with melancholy view
Your former skins just shells, that somehow you outgrew.

And when at last you find you’ve turned life’s final page,
Oh, when the day arrives you truly act your age
Your expectations now no longer share the stage
Your happiness no longer bound by self-made cage,
The fears and guilt all vanish no man can assuage,
New heights and depths flung open that you’ll never gage.