Take and Tarry

Take and tarry, give and carry.
Time slowed then, but now it varies,
mostly faster, accelerating
like a bullet train that's passing,
the smaller stations flashing;
this time there is no stopping.
There is one destination,
and it hastens to its final stop.

My life is like that train. The miles I travel tick away
reverberating beneath the wheels that churn,
not slowing, toward their end.
Monotony grinds on to merge with fevered pace.
The memories blur, it seems a race to finish now!
An avalanche to sweep away
the plans I had to fill each day with meaning
and significance.

And so, I reach for what's at hand
to slow this impetus through shadowed lands;
a ride that was not in my plans,
a destination bleak and dark comes much too fast.
There’s life to live!
To take and tarry, give and carry.

And so, I reach for what's at hand
to slow this impetus through shadowed lands;
a ride that was not in my plans,
a destination bleak and dark comes much too fast.
There's life to live,
to take and tarry, give and carry.

To make the very stuff of life takes time, slow time,
and hurry is the enemy of open generosity,
and busy stunts the energy
that's best applied to stem the tide,
and notice opportunity
amidst the world's cacophony:
a flower blooms, a child's first step,
a puppy rolls amid the clover
proud to wear its shiny collar,
the smell of grass that's freshly mowed,
a tractor laboring in a distant field,
the smell of dinner on the stove,
and lilacs blooming by the road less traveled.

Take and tarry, give and carry.
Carry dreams and memories.
Give the time that's needed now,
to cherish those whose lives need "slow",
who need to tarry on their way,
to take their time lest time will take
their very days before they wake!