Thursday, March 4, 2010

Right now is enough

Don't let the snow in these photos fool you - the weather around here seems to have turned a corner, and a lot of our snow has melted. The sun even shined today - for the entire day! But this was the scene at our feeders last weekend. The snow had piled up overnight and buried the mealworms contained in this dish. The Carolina Wren knew they were there, though, so it dug away until it found the prize.





I've been thinking lately about time. Mostly it's been in response to a poetry prompt over at Read Write Poem (I warned you all that I would be working on my writing chops - this is one way of doing so), but the subject went even deeper for me this morning when I contemplated what text would be appropriate to link my photos of the Wrens to a poem about time. Then, as I was cropping the images for this post, it hit me. How do animals experience time? I've heard more than once that dogs, for example, "live in the moment,", and that they don't plan for tomorrow, or for the next hour for that matter, and they certainly don't dwell on the past. What about birds? I would have to assume they are much the same way. I doubt that there was much thought of the future in this Wren's mind while it was digging through the snow to find a worm. Here all we humans are, wondering about when on earth the weather is going to clear up and when it's going to start seeming like spring, and talking about how bad this winter has been. By contrast, all this Wren is thinking about is right now. Sometimes I think it would be a relief to have such a seemingly simple thought process, such an uncluttered mind, but then again, if that were the case, I wouldn't have the opportunity to share my thoughts with you.

Right now is enough
We spend so much time looking forward, waiting for what is not now.
Awaiting the song and bloom of spring,
Awaiting the sun and harvest of summer,
Awaiting the cool and blaze of autumn,
Awaiting the hush and white of winter.
We live within one season, all the while longing for the next,
As if the present isn't good enough, isn't pretty enough, isn't alive enough.
As if right now simply isn't enough.
Past, present, future;
Was, is, will be.
Tick-tock.
Be.

If you like to read poetry or write poetry, or both, you should check out Read Write Poem.

15 comments:

RuthieJ said...

you've got that little wren pretty well trained Heather!

Unknown said...

Hi Heather! I really liked your poem here. I especially liked the way you ended with just "Be" Kudos!

Paul Oakley said...

Wise words. But how to do it? how to do it... Be.

SarahJane said...

Hi Heather -
What a lovely blog you have. I enjoyed your use of repetition in this poem, almost like listening to a clock tick.
thanks, sarah

FAB said...

Hi Heather. I share the sentiment.

If only we could stop thinking of tomorrow;
If only we could stop time, sometimes;
Whatever will be, will be. FAB

James said...

I like the poem. Very wise and true. It's too easy to always look ahead and forget where we are and just be in the now. That's one of the things I love about birding; it reminds me to be present. I wonder about animals an planning, though. Tool-users like ravens and chimps appear to plan ahead if not far enough to become bloggers :)

I love the wren shots, btw. Are you digiscoping or just using a telephoto lens?

flaubert said...

I really like the last stanza. Nicely done! Thanks for sharing.
Pamela

Heather said...

Ruthie - All I can say is: I make a mean mealworm!

ADoughty - Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to comment.

Paul - Thanks. If I ever figure out the answer, I'll let you know.

Sarah - Thank you for your comments and your visit.

Frank - Yes... why is it so hard for us to just take it one day at a time? One minute at a time?

James - Yes, I agree, birding keeps me very much in the now. Nothing like bird song to stop me in my tracks and be present. I also thought about birds that cache food - that has to be a little about future thinking, right? As to the photos, no digiscoping. Just using my 55-200mm telephoto, shooting a subject that's about 6 feet away, and the photos are tightly cropped.

Pamela - Thanks for your visit and taking the time to comment!

Tumblewords: said...

Terrific photos! So much wisdom and beauty in your thoughts and poetry. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

What I like about the poem is how visually you lead the read from this great expanse of past to future and the poem narrows down to just this moment. Nice.

Love the photos of the wren!

Heather said...

Tumblewords - Thank you for the kind words, and for stopping by.

Survivorscribe - Thank you for your visit and for the specific feedback!

Felicia said...

Lovely poem and a message worth remembering. And those Carolina Wrens really do have that living-in-the-moment thing nailed down—your photo sequence is terrific!

ksdoolittle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Nellie from Beyond My Garden said...

Heather, I love the song sung by the Dillards, "What's Time to a Hog." Not as pretty as yours, though. Your poem is nice. keep it up.

Heather said...

Felicia - Thank you for stopping by and commenting! I'm fascinated by Wrens, in case you can't tell.

Karen - I don't know where your comment went, but thanks anyway.

BTG - I'm not familiar with the song you reference, unfortunately, but I can imagine it. Thanks for the encouragement.