{"id":162124,"date":"2020-06-15T12:00:55","date_gmt":"2020-06-15T11:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=162124"},"modified":"2020-06-02T07:28:44","modified_gmt":"2020-06-02T06:28:44","slug":"the-days-pass-quickly-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2020\/06\/the-days-pass-quickly-now\/","title":{"rendered":"The Days Pass Quickly Now \u2026."},"content":{"rendered":"

I.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The days pass quickly now.<\/em><\/strong>
\nI recall how long each day seemed in my youth.
\nHow I yearned to be an adult,
\nAble to enjoy the freedoms of age!<\/p>\n

Freedoms?<\/em><\/strong>
\nWork, marriage, children, money, cars,
\nAppliances, tools, furniture,
\nDishes, pots, pans!
\nThe accumulated debris of a lifetime,<\/p>\n

Filling floors, shelves, corners, cabinets,
\nMinds!<\/p>\n

Freedom indeed!<\/em><\/strong>
\nHow little I understood.
\nIf only someone would have taught me,
\nLessons that go untaught,
\nLessons learned from . . .<\/p>\n

Would I have listened?<\/em><\/strong>
\nWould I have understood?
\nWould I have been grateful?<\/p>\n

Each life is lived anew<\/em><\/strong>,<\/em>
\nEach experience inscribed.
\nIndelible memories:
\nSeconds of elation,
\nMoments of joy,
\nDays, months of pain, sorrow, regret.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

II.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>I yearn to share my past,<\/em><\/strong>
\nTo tell what I have learned.<\/p>\n

Insights from habit, practice,
\nWisdom from error,
\nGood and bad.<\/p>\n

I want to tell them to children and grandchildren<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em>
\nNo one wants to hear.<\/p>\n

With listening comes connection.
\nThey seek escape!<\/p>\n

Freedom!<\/p>\n

They fear what I have seen and done.<\/em><\/strong>
\nThey heard the stories in their youth.
\nWords from a father,
\nLectures, stories, fables
\nThe same opening line,
\n\u201cWhen I was young, I would . . . . .\u201d<\/p>\n

Fantasy:<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cTell me what I should know, Papa?<\/em><\/p>\n

What should I expect?<\/em>
\nWhat should I do if \u2026\u2026.?<\/em>
\nHow did you handle that, Papa?<\/em>
\nTell me the story about Calcutta. \u2026. Again!<\/em>
\nWhat do I regret\u2026\u2026.?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

They don\u2019t want to be reminded of what awaits.<\/em><\/strong>
\nThey have already fashioned their lives,
\nDistortions, defense lies.
\nThey may share genes, blood, but \u2026.<\/p>\n

Your life is not their life.<\/em><\/strong>
\nThey cannot do what you did,
\nNor be what you were.
\nYou cannot re-create your life in others.<\/p>\n

Procreate, yes!<\/p>\n

Re-create, no!<\/p>\n

Leave them with their bliss,<\/em><\/strong>
\nYou gave them life in a moment of passion.<\/p>\n

You fulfilled your gender function . . . . .
\nA Pacific salmon struggling upstream to spawn \u2026.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

III.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I imagine family scenes<\/em><\/strong>,<\/em>
\nWife, children, dog \u2014 together,
\nReveling in presence,<\/p>\n

Content with talk,
\nBuoyed by connection!<\/p>\n

Idyllic moments:<\/em><\/strong>
\nPizza in bed,
\nDog burrowing in blanket,
\nLaughing, ticking, teasing,
\nJoy present!<\/p>\n

In the silence of dawn, in the darkness of night<\/em><\/strong>, I ask:<\/p>\n

How did I make it through?<\/p>\n

Doing what needed to be done!
\nEach day succeeding, failing, falling, rising, An endless cycle!<\/p>\n

No pawn of some grand design,<\/em><\/strong>
\nContent with being alive,
\nDriven by dreams,
\nNo penitent on bended knee,
\nBegging, promising, renewing.<\/p>\n

I brought to each day<\/em><\/strong>
\nWhatever I had at the moment:
\nEnergy, thought, desire,
\nAnger, frustration, hope!<\/p>\n

Day passed, night, another dawn.<\/em><\/strong>
\nMarriage, children, work, money, health, weather,<\/p>\n

The stuff of life:
\nLuck, chance, coincidence, the unexpected,<\/p>\n

Decisions, choices, options,
\nAmidst uncertainty, doubt, fear, relief.<\/p>\n

It is not despair I share.<\/em><\/strong>
\nOnly awareness,
\nConsciousness of time!<\/p>\n

There is no preparation for ageing:
\nAilments, frailties, death,<\/p>\n

How little is taught.<\/p>\n

Why should they listen?<\/em><\/strong>
\nWhy should they care?
\nThe internet can answer any question.
\nAnd failing that, there are friends.<\/p>\n

Why would children want to hear?<\/em><\/strong>
\nTo know what awaits them, denies possibilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be different for me.<\/p>\n

I am not you.\u201d
\nI can see the look in their eyes.
\nThey say: \u201cDo not invalidate my thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now at 70 (now 78, not 76), I awake!<\/em><\/strong>
\nmake coffee in the pre-dawn. I hear birds,
\nSee sky lighten. Sit in silence,
\nReflecting!
\nA lifetime compressed into seconds,
\nA tear . . .\u00a0 regret.<\/p>\n

The minutes pass more slowly now.<\/em><\/strong>
\nAnother shooting pain!
\nAgony!<\/p>\n

Life is short.<\/em><\/strong>
\nLife is long.<\/p>\n

Long enough to bring . . . .<\/p>\n

_______________________________________________<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Published in GATHERINGS: A Collection of Poems, Poetic Lyrics, Essays, Short Stories<\/em> \u00a9, Anthony J. Marsella – Aurelius Press, LLC Alpharetta, Georgia 30022 January 31, 2015<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>\"\"<\/a>Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D., a member of the <\/em>TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a>, is a past president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility, Emeritus Professor of psychology at the University of Hawaii\u2019s Manoa Campus in Honolulu, Hawaii, and past director of the World Health Organization Psychiatric Research Center in Honolulu. \u00a0He is known internationally as a pioneer figure in the study of culture and psychopathology who challenged the ethnocentrism and racial biases of many assumptions, theories, and practices in psychology and psychiatry. In more recent years, he has been writing and lecturing on peace and social justice. He has published 21 books and more than 300 articles, tech reports, and popular commentaries. His<\/em> TMS articles may be accessed<\/em> HERE<\/a> and he can be reached at <\/em>marsella@hawaii.edu<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The days pass quickly now.
\nI recall how long each day seemed in my youth.
\nHow I yearned to be an adult,
\nAble to enjoy the freedoms of age!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":115838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[1177,868],"class_list":["post-162124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry-format","tag-inspirational","tag-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}