Time has no edge, no borders fence
its undiscovered frontiers,
the shadowy seas of before merge
into the ocean of after. The currents carry us,
voyagers on a ship of life, knowledge, and memory
as we sail in-between, barely noticing,
the spindrift carried by the wind, drifting,
barely remembering
how a month was forever at five years old, then understanding
that an entire lifetime can be lived in a minute’s dream,
and realizing
that a glance, a smile, a laugh, a kiss can last forever—and beyond,
timeless.
For dVerse, where Lisa has asked us to write a poem about edges or fringes. Work in progress. 😀
Yesterday and today: Merril's historical musings 
‘the shadowy seas of before merge
into the ocean of after. ‘
This reminded me of the prosery prompt about ‘the wrong end of the telescope of time.’ It does indeed seem like we have an unlimited amount when we are young then…what happens?!
It’s all very strange, isn’t it?
It certainly is!
I do love how you start out by the sea metaphor and then zooming in on that kiss… yes there are some keen memories of kisses I have…
Thank you, Björn. That’s a good thing. 😏
I really like how you connected time with water and how it flows, and the paradox of how time can be timeless. Wonderful!
Thank you so much!
You’re very welcome.
the joing of sea and beach is by far the best fringe. it draws me in every time
Thank you. It is special.
This is you at your loveliest
Wow–thank you so much, Candice! 💙
It’s always a real treat to find you and read you. I’m certain that shall always be so.
😘
Love this — especially the sailing imagery…
Hi Will! Thank you so much!
I’m loving this one, Merril; My Beloved Sandra and I have The Kiss over our fireplace.
It’s all good, but your closing stanza is mind-numbingly awesome. Thanks!
Thank you very much for your kind words, Ron! And now I’m imagining you and your beloved Sandra gazing at the painting over your fireplace. 😀
You’re such an astute observer of life. Love this piece, Merril. ❤️
Thank you so much, Colleen! ❤️
God, Merril, this is so wise and true.
-David
Thank you so much, David! 💙
Simply beautiful, Merril.
Thank you, Jill!
I can tell that I really like a poem when I feel compelled to read it aloud and that was definitely this case with this one. The last stanza really hit me hard, because I have recently been thinking a lot about the first time I really fell in love, almost forty years ago. Indeed a kiss can last forever.
Thank you so much for your very kind words. I appreciate that you let me know how my words affected you. I suppose as we get older we do think more about such past events in our lives.
A combination of growing older, retiring from work, and being isolated because of the pandemic has caused me to be particularly introspective this past year. Poetry from various sources has helped me to focus and sometimes crystalize those feelings.
I understand!
Merril, this is mesmerizingly gorgeous — spectacular my friend… WOW! I too used the sea/ocean for it’s mystery as the edge of the world, of our thoughts, of our dreams, of time, of our life…
Wow–thank you, Rob! I appreciate your very kind words! Yes, I suppose the sea seems timeless to us.
They say when we die our life flashes before us. Its like we have been slowing rolling that ball of elastic time and then one day we let go and it unravels at rapid speed. I loved how you described time. ☺️
Thank you very much. I guess it’s hard to know what happens when we die, but I know time does seem different at various moments.
Yes Merril. I find it is racing right now 😕
I hope you have some time to take a walk or something and slow it down a bit! 💙
Very nicely done! Time is like the universe… no beginning and no end… just events in between! I like this… then understanding
that an entire lifetime can be lived in a minute’s dream,
Your Epiphany moment!
Thank you so much, Dwight! I appreciate that.
You are welcome!
A stunning poem about time, Merril, which drifts like the ‘spindrift carried by the wind’ and captures moments like the kiss that can last forever. Time is a human concept, it’s whatever we want it to be – no edge, just a collection of memories.
Thank you so much, Kim! Yes, you are so right. It is something we’ve constructed.
Time is so much – and you captured a lot in 13 lines. Thumbs up, Merril!
Thank you very much, Frank! 😀
So many of your images echo my edges…I feel the Oracle hovering over our words. Yours of course is more lyrical and dreamy. (K)
Thank you. The Oracle always seems to be around, doesn’t she?
She does. And welcome.
Such beautiful musings infused with the knowledge that time varies according to mood, memory, and stage of life. Klimt knew what he was doing, too
Thank you very much, Derrick.
Yeah, Klimt wasn’t bad. 😏
🙂
I do love your timeless stanza. Fabulous lines. So true.
Thank you so much!
Truly beautiful Merril!
Thank you very much, Linda!
You’re welcome!
Time is such a tricky element.
Yes, it is.
Wonderful, more beautiful than Klimt’s art.
I only learnt of his art in the last decade. At first I thought it odd. Now, I still think it’s odd, but it frees me.
Your lovely poem has taught me a new word, “spindrift”.
The first time I read the poem, I read spendthrift.
It still all made sense. LOL!
Thank you, Resa! That’s so funny. Yes, spindrift is such a fun word, and it sounds like what it is. And yes, Klimt is kind of odd, but lovely, too.
😀 😻 😀
This is an Ahhhh poem; I floated through it. Time becomes such a confounding notion the more of it that passes.
Such kind words! Thank you very much, Liz!
You’re most welcome, Merril!
A kiss can last forever- in paintings and poems like yours. ❤️
Thank you, Pam! ❤️
Well you had me with the Klimt painting! I LOVE this painting! I have a different Klimt hanging in my study. We were so fortunate to see original Klimts on one of our European trips….the gold on the is astounding!
I love this riff on time…..a month to a child….a kiss….a relationship yes, can be timeless. These days of Covid isolation have really blurred time for me. I have a day planner and put to-dos in each day so I can at least check off something done….but they are the same almost every day, the mundane. Water 1, Water 2 (I try to drink 2 glasses of water a day), pills, treadmill, shoulder/back exercises (new as of last week), clean bathroom etc. You get the picture. Actually, having to go for physical therapy appointments twice a week now, for six weeks, has me getting sort of dressed up and out of the house. A welcome change even though the exercises etc hurt like hell! 🙂 Covid vaccine #2 comes March 22nd….that’s a piece of TIME I am looking forward to and counting down to! 🙂 Ah….time…………
Thank you very much, Lillian. I can imagine that gold on the paintings!
Good luck with your exercises. And thank you for comment–you made me laugh.
Oh My Goodness! I’m otherwise speechless, hushed…so exquisite, this.
Wow–thank you!
You’re very welcome.
So lovely …. I sank into your words of wisdom … beautifully penned. Love the art, one of my faves.
What a lovely comment, Helen. Thank you!
I really like this — “Time has no edge” — before merging with after, like waves.
It’s so true, there seems to be too much time in life when we are children and then suddenly life happens.
Thank you! Yes, that’s exactly it.
time certainty has no edges as it can be a paradox and can be timeless. One of the best pieces I’ve read in a while. I also do poetry on my blog as well, feel free to check it out if you’re interested, have a great day !
Thank you very much for your kind words!
Very cool poem! I love this one! You capture the concept of time in such a powerful way; you capture the magic of time ‘standing still’, be it in our imagination, or in our memories. Lovely image also, of sailing out in the sea of life…
Thank you so much, Linda! I’m a bit obsessed with time. 😀
I love this Klimt also.
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Oh yes. You have captured time’s elusiveness to be categorized in definite terms. It is so fluid, isn’t it? Love!
It is! Thank you very much, my friend!
My pleasure! 🧡🧡