This Now

A poem inviting you to appreciate the richness of existence in the fleeting, sacred moment of being alive.

Photo by Caro Henry

I'm standing here, 
caught between 
yesterday's fading shadows 
and tomorrow's whispers. 
Just breathing, 
just being, 
just feeling 
my heart 
thump 
in this crazy, 
wide-open now.

How quickly the past 
slips through my fingers—
like trying to hold onto beach sand. 
And tomorrow? 
That's just some distant noise 
I can barely hear over the 
drumbeat of right now.

This moment though—
it's like unwrapping a present 
you didn't expect. 
It's asking me to look around,
REALLY LOOK. 
The sun hitting those leaves just so. 
Kids laughing their heads off down the street. 
That soft swish of grass when the wind picks up. 
Oh, how I love that sound.

Time rushes by like some wild river, 
sweeping away all 
my worries and dreams, 
while I'm simply... here. 
Watching it all happen. 
Breathing it in.

It's weird how 
when you stop obsessing 
about yesterday and tomorrow, 
everything gets sharper. 
Brighter. 
Like someone cranked up 
the color on your TV. 
Each second leaves its mark on you.

And then it hits me—
this one simple truth. 
We're not heading somewhere. 
We're just collecting moments. 
Little universes. 
Every heartbeat saying, 
Hey, don't miss this. 
You're here. 
You're alive. 
This matters.

This fleeting, 
beautiful now. 
That's all we've got, 
isn't it?

Author's Note

Isn’t it amazing how children “get it”?

They live completely in the now, watching a butterfly with total fascination or giggling during a game of tag. No worries about tomorrow’s homework or next week’s plans!

That magical ability to be fully present is something many of us grown-ups try to get back once life gets complicated.

Henri Bergson had a great take on this. Time, to him, wasn’t a simple line from point A to B; it flowed, evolved.

Kids embody this philosophy without even trying! To them, time isn’t about checking boxes on a to-do list—it’s this vast playground full of possibilities.

Then there’s Thich Nhat Hanh. His mindfulness teachings encourage us to see the world through a child’s eyes again.

By practicing being present, we can rediscover simple joys, like tasting that first sip of morning coffee or feeling the breeze on our faces. Kids do this naturally, but we can learn it at any age!

Bottom line?

That childlike ability to dive headfirst into the present moment is a gift we can reclaim through mindfulness.

Henri Bergson and Thich Nhat Hanh show us that being fully here, right now, leads to a richer life.

Maybe we should take a cue from the kids and stop letting tomorrow steal today’s joy!

Upcoming…

• A prose poem describing a nocturnal scene:

  The Owls, 5 July 2025

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