Lines of an old hymn often play in my head:
Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
Passing from you and from me…
I hear it while I get ready for work each morning, where, of late, there’s a heavy atmosphere of uncertainty and despair.
Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
Passing from you and from me…
I hear it while having to drive through town instead of the scenic route by the pond, where the great blue heron lives, because a bridge is out, I’m told, for maybe a year or more (how can this be?).
Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
Passing from you and from me…
I hear it while noticing and grieving dead animals by the roadside… beaver, groundhog, opossum, squirrel, cottontail rabbit, white-tail deer, dog, cat; a hawk that flew too low at the wrong time, its wide pale wing, patterned in distinctive dark-brown bars, angled up and over its body like a shroud; and so many skunks, their beautiful black-and-white fur rippling in the wind…sluggish from hibernation, they wandered into the road, never to wake again.
Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
Passing from you and from me…
I hear it when I’m running late and traffic in the heart of town is backed up to an absurd degree (of course), making me turn off the main road for a side road, to save a few minutes…
That’s when I see the mural:
An ethereal moment calls for an etheree…
Breathe
deeply.
The moments
are soon passing
from you and from me…
let’s use them, not lose them
for every precious minute
sings unwritten song within it.
Breathe, and appreciate the moment.
Each, in itself, a sign of the divine.
Funny thing…I see the “Breathe” message on a most difficult morning; on the drive home that afternoon, just past the mural, a great blue heron passes overhead, strangely low and close. I have never seen one here before. It looks otherworldly, ancient, sailing along serenely, impossibly, with barely a beat of its wings.
great blue heron glides
on slow wingbeats of wisdom
breathing the moment
Great Blue Heron in Flight – (Ardea herodias). Milazzoyo. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
*******
Composed for Day 14 of the Slice of Life Story Challenge with Two Writing Teachers
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lit bits and pieces 
Such an important message, Fran – appreciate every moment. Time is slipping by but I feel more hopeful that I can now be wise enough to use them and not lose them. I love your poem, the discovery of the mural, and that heron sighting, which gather to create an enduring moment.
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“Wise”…yes, that’s key to living our moments well. The great blue heron is a symbol of wisdom…again, a reminder; such messages are all around us, if we but pay attention. That is one of the greatest things writing does for us–sharpens our senses, making us more observant, more open. It deepens our moments and our lives.
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Staying in the moment is a great gift we can give ourselves. “Breathe” is a powerful reminder.
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I know this to be true, Terje…for every moment we have is precious.
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I have to return to this one. First, I want to use your poem in the display window for awakenings with your permission. Second, you’ll never in a million years believe what I saw flying over Hollonville Road yesterday on my way home for lunch. I pulled over to be sure of what I was seeing, thinking there was no way. And yet it was. Right there. A great blue heron. What in the world??
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Yes – the haiku or the etheree? – but either way, yes! Kim…we are tied by an unbreakable spiritual thread…that’s all there is to it! Wonders really never cease. I will work on more offerings for you. I’m even toying with the idea of seeing what Poetry Possum might offer for “Awakenings” 🙂
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Yes, yes to the possum! I love both of the poems, maybe both but definitely the etheree – it is so calming and peaceful – – reorienting the perspective and grounding the reader in the moment.
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Your post touched my heart. I feel the same. Thank you.
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Thank you, Lakshmi. So wonderful to hear from you!
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When you repeat the old hymn, you show how these thoughts stick with us, especially when we’re rushed, almost adding to our urgency and stress. “Quick stop! Pause to breathe!” It’s a good reminder to try not to let me myself get to that point in the first place- because that hymn will always be playing in our minds.
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The old hymns do stick with us – songs seem to return when we need them. They have a special sort of power, indeed.
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Fran, your post is just beautiful. I love that you didn’t stop with the lamenting of the passage of time. Then you received that gift of the mural and created a breath-giving etheree. Some of my favorite lines are:
let’s use them, not lose them
sings unwritten song within it.
Each, in itself, a sign of the divine.
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I am so glad those lines spoke to you, Denise; thank you for these affirming words!
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I just don’t have the words this morning to express how absolutely gorgeous this post is. From the way you wove in the lines of the hymn to the lines of verse at the end–just beautiful.
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Vivian, thank you so much for these meaningful words!
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We are on the same page. As I ask in my post today, are we living parallel lives? But what a lovely sign and heron and poem. Thanks for sharing the moment.
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I think we live on the same page, Margaret!
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Fran, I think sometimes we do receive signs to help encourage us when we’re experiencing difficult times or heavy emotions that can be personally debilitating. On a side note, I got such a joy of how you describe all the roadkill you saw along your drive. I totally understood that kind of experience since I live on a road full of animal life although I do not see many skunks. Once a bridge went out near my home and it made getting to work much longer. Your list of animals seemed more reverent that gross and that’s what I appreciated. Gorgeous poem and photo of the blue heron.
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Barb – thank you for your words and your heart in response to the post. “Reverent” is a wonderful word and indeed what I feel when seeing the little bodies along the roads…sad they died, that anything has to die, and valuing the gift of life more because of it.
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Love that this post starts with the words to a hymn. Your etheree is beautiful and seeing the heron on your drive home is a gift.
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Thank you, Ramona – I love the old hymns. Grandma used to play them on the piano and we’d sing them. They stay with you, don’t they. I so appreciate your words about the etheree.
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Everything here is so meaningful. I could not count how many times I sang that hymn when I was young and we sang hymns-all the verses. Truths embedded in heart and mind along with scripture verses.
The blue heron haiku brings such encouragement, another reminder to fully and meaningfully use the moments we are given.
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There’s so much theology in those old songs, Diane. And they do stick with us. Thank you so much for your response to the post and poem – wish I had a picture of the one I actually saw, but I was driving.
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I amazed at how beautifully you crafted this piece. I love the song intertwined with what you encountered driving to work and then you give us the ride home, the special message and another well-crafted, profound poem. Thank you. Both the words and the structure are worth keeping.
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Rita, these words mean so much to me – thank you. Originally I just had the song at the outset. I was almost done with the post when I felt it needed to be repeated in those particular spots.
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A reminder to breath, and a token bird to lift your gaze upward. Your post parallels a new venture of an author I follow, Karen Salmansohn, focusing on the positive aspects of “Mortality Awareness”–making the most of the here and now, knowing the end is going to happen sooner or later.
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I believe I would enjoy Salmansohn’s work, Chris – I will have to check it out. Trust you to always have a meaningful recommendation.!
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