Time and Space

 

Reversal of direction 

time to pause

space to breathe 

time to refocus

space for renewed energy.

“The greatest pleasure in life is 

doing what people say you cannot do.”

~ Walter Bagehot,

journalist, economist and essayist

In-Between Time

There is an in-between speed 

that has no destination, 

  no timing, 

    no when to stop, 

  when to step on the gas, 

a strange and awkward place 

where imagination can roam free 

   to choose a book to read, 

     a walk to take, 

no sense of urgency 

until rain pours in violent torrents 

  when windows must be closed

drains cleared of dried flower petals. 

A stop and go time that fills 

once more with in-between time.

“Sometimes the space between knowing what to do 

and actually doing it is a very short walk. 

Other times it is an impossible expanse.”

 ~ David Levithan, author

To Breathe and Bloom

Give it some space

The impulse

The longing

The wish or the dream

Give it some space

To breathe

To become real

To feel it bloom

Give it some space

The impulse

The longing

The wish or the dream.

“Create the space and a bigger life happens.”

~ Alysia Reiner, actress

We Know Only Breath

Comfort and space, 

both needed 

for breath to be easy. 

In the space 

of stars and moon 

we know only breath. 

The breath of the universe. 

We have yet to discover 

all the comforts of space.

“focus on the journey, not on arriving at a certain destination.”

~ Chris Hadfield,  An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth

*For Artemis 2

Life Outside the Lines

In January of 2025, colourful calendars 

popped up in briefcases, 

on kitchen walls, 

on dining room tables, 

on wooden desk tops, 

on phones and tablets. 

Square spaces for dates and plans

marking our time, place and location

Appointments and extracurriculars

Little space was given to 

washing the floor, 

doing the laundry, 

wiping up the inevitable spills, 

broken crockery, 

naps in the lazy afternoons, 

all season walks in the park 

watching ants march across sidewalks

smelling the prairie roses, 

the worries of a sick child, 

trips to crowded emergency rooms, 

poring over bills and finances……………..

Years end gathers memories 

shuffles them, stacks them neatly 

in a higgledy piggledy order 

for stories told 'round a kitchen table 

for a laugh, or cry, or both in the same breath.

Happy New Year's Eve!

“We must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us 

to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and mystery.”

~ H.G.Wells

Revelation

 

How does one live a full life?  

The spaces of home can feel empty, 

when plans have gone awry,

the fullness flown away, 

as deflated as a party balloon

energy sapped.

But joy has only hidden for a moment. 

When the quietness of the day 

offers a notebook to write upon

a sock monkey to make

a fresh salad to enjoy

a nap to slip into

music to colour the quietness

How does one live a full life?

Grasp what is present 

Sense it, lean into it and just relax!

“How we spend our days is of course, how we spend our lives.”

~ Annie Dillard

Making Space

Wedged in here

Stacked up there

Nostalgia in solid form

Until my soul is paper thin

No room to breathe only

writing scant notes 

with little design

until 

I need to breathe

easily 

to create 

in colours and shapes 

of childhood

making space for 

my soul to shine

my dreams to blossom

“The space itself, your home, naturally has a message and intention.”

~ Thich Nhat Hanh, Making Space: 

Creating a Home Meditation Practice

The Stuff of Life

The space between sleep and busy 

~ where the stuff of life lies 

plays to the rhythm of the phone, 

the doorbell’s ring, children’s voices 

asking why a million times, 

aromas of bubbling sauces and stews

without the stuff of life 

there would be an incessant hum 

or a silence with no end ~ even ones thoughts could grow silent.

So I’ll bake bread; 

listen to birds chirping happily, 

take in the aroma of my kitchen or 

from a restaurant down the street; 

hear the traffic of sidewalks and lanes

~ when it’s time to sleep, I’ll dream.

“Get busy living or get busy dying.”

~ Stephen King

No Longer Teenagers

Between

two sides of life 

there is a space as wide 

as the ocean
as small as the pause 

between notes

In those places and spaces

we live and roam

smelling flowers, 

revelling in the music of ages

clambering over rocks, with 

travels under majestic prairie skies, 

hearing geese calling their mates

watching ducks splash down

on wide open lakes

standing on sandy shores 

with our arms open wide

for as long as we can and 

as long as our will takes us

tho’ our bodies may run down and 

forget we are no longer teenagers.

still we move on within 

the circle of the life 

we have come to know and cherish.

“Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.”

~ Emily Dickinson