Time

Some of my ideas about time. This definitely isn't one of my best pieces, but I've already written it, so there's no point undoing all that work.

Time.

It is often described

As a roaring river.

You can only move

In a single direction.

 

But what if

It is a mighty ocean,

And you can go anywhere

If you work hard enough

And dream big enough.

 

What if time

Is nothing more than

An idea that was invented

To describe movement?

What if it doesn't exist?

 

Time might

Be an endless desert

Surrounded by a starry sky.

Anything is possible

At any time.

Author's Note

As always, feel free to critique.

Reviews

[Rick Puetter]

Justin,

I am a physicist and therefore I am very concerned with the nature of time. It is true that there are many definitions of time, and time means many things to many people. Even from the perspective of a physicist, however, time is quite unusual. Physicist talk about space-time, but notice even here time is distinguished from "space".

The full, true nature of time still eludes us. I am sure, however, that it is a real thing with real properties. And you allude to one of the strange properties of time, i.e., that you can only move in a single direction through time. It is an interesting and perplexing fact that people (any particles with mass, actually) can only move forward in time. However, we can move through space back and forth in any direction we like. It is interesting to contrast this to light (say a single photon), that can only move at the speed of light, i.e., at one velocity, and as a consequence of this, the photon NEVER moves in time. Time stands still for a photon. What a strange world! Still, I think many of the rules of time are known. Yes they are strange, but this doesn't mean that time is a made-up quantity and that we don't know many of the properties of time. So unlike your poem, I don't think that the existence of time, or its properties, are a matter of speculation or conjecture. Unfortunately, these are complex ideas and not understood by the general public. If you want to read more about this, drop me a line and I can suggest some references.

Best regards,

Rick

[kamikazebuterfli]

oh how I wish that was true! beautiful!!!

[Emily Elizabeth]

This poem is BEAUTIFUL and the ideas you have touched on are interesting, fresh and written in a visionary way. I loved this. The way you've used imagery is stunning. I loved the whole of it. It gives a slight faith of such hope and freedom.

[Rita]

The time in which anything can happen is so unpredictable. That's why time is so mysterious. That's why some despise it, and the shocks that it brings, or love it's delightful surprises.

Great write,

R

[Wildfleour]

Funny - I was just writing a poem about time today too! To me, time is a man-made creation to help create a sense of order and movement. If we didn't know there was something named time, would we age differently? Feel differently? Cherish each moment more or less?

And tell me, why does time feel like it's dragging forever when we are uncomfortable or unhappy, but it seems to fly when we are happy and/or having fun? :)