Poem: This Moment Now

A long life (or even a short one) is just a string of moments and we lose sight of the now moment.

This Moment Now Old friends don’t seem as old     as they used to It has to do with porch swings     and beat-up trucks, lemonade in afternoons     and swatting flies when generations lived in the same town, which doesn’t happen much     any more We’re far too eagerly caught up for that     in building computer-links     to the new branch in London That may sound like a complaint and isn’t,     so get off my back Could be taken for a longing after simpler times     and might be But perish the thought of being in that crowd     and caught out of date It’s just a statement, but the tug is there They’re gone to other things and places     and it’s heady stuff, this moving     always upward, a sense of focus before we had the chance     to call ourselves old friends And that’s just as well, it could get tiresome     sipping lemonade A life of knowing who’s car’s coming     down the road to turn in here And when you pretty well knew that Tuesdays     you’d see Bob and Joanne Recognizing Sunday from no mail, late sleep     and chicken baking First thing you know it might get comfortable     in a life like that And Cancun would seem a strange place     to go in winter But life’s divided itself these days     into then and now and maybe Then’s been gone a while and now gets lost     in years of maybe The plans and dreams, the thrill of moving on,     as the future buries now And strange things happen from time to time     on the sixteenth-hole Looking for a lost ball, people have been known     to sit down and weep Wondering suddenly where old friends have gone     in this moment now

This poem is included in Jim Freeman's poetry collection BROKEN PIECES available here in print or as an e-Book in your favorite formats.