What is that? And where has it gone?

lillian

Mr. Rogers . . .
putting on his sweater.
Not Angry Birds.

Pen Pals . . .

Waiting . . .
for book three,
Harry Potter
and the
Prisoner of Azkaban.
Not a Netflix binge.

Family vacation . . .
road trip
with I Spy
and
the license plate game.

So . . .
tell me.
How are you,
really?

To listen . . .
leave space . . .
to wait . . .
slow down . . .
to appreciate time.

To think . . .
before we blurt.

A skill.
A common sense attribute,
I fear is becoming a lost art.
Patience.

letter-1077860_1280It’s Tuesday Poetics at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets. Today Jill asks us to consider unseen things, reminding us that only about 5% of the universe is visible matter. Patience is something you cannot hold in your hand.

66 thoughts on “What is that? And where has it gone?”

  2. mandibelle16 August 7, 2018 / 12:38 pm

    Change and all that’s been lost, that was good, but is no longer. What have lost because of these changes? To me his is what your poem says. It also reminds me of a favorite Miranda Lambert tune called “Automatic” https://youtu.be/2ksWKOy665o
    Have a good week.

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  3. Björn Rudberg (brudberg) August 7, 2018 / 2:56 pm

    Oh indeed… the patience, what a lost skill… instant gratification in a sugar-rush world, from one high to then next, and then we stumble and fall into darkness.

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:26 pm

      …a sugar-rush world…yep. That says it all! With corn fructose in so many American products….and thumbs “talking”…
      I loved the fact that people of all generations, across the globe literally, were reading Harry Potter and all had to wait and wait and wait for the next installment. What a phenomenon that was.
      PS: I still love stationery and write letters!

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  4. jillys2016 August 7, 2018 / 3:06 pm

    Excellent! Those tender things that come with patience and a slower pace – you have captured that beautifully.

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:26 pm

      🙂 I still write letters and ask every year for stationery as a gift! 🙂

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:27 pm

      ….hand in hand with thoughtfulness 🙂

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  8. sarahsouthwest August 7, 2018 / 4:24 pm

    Ah, patience…though I did hear on the radio that video games can help kids learn to defer gratification…having said that, I think kids should be allowed to get bored and come out the other side. That’s the way to creativity.

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:28 pm

      ….I remember playing outside and making forts and making fairy houses….playing jacks and Olly Olly Over (me on one side of the garage and a friend on the other, throwing the ball over it!).

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:29 pm

      Thanks. Yes — it was a global phenomenon….people of all ages devouring one of the books and then waiting and waiting and waiting for the next one!

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  11. Glenn Buttkus August 7, 2018 / 4:41 pm

    As wonderful as the Potter films were, they paled in comparison to the world I created in my mind as I read the books. My wife taught me the license plate game 25 years ago. W go to 999; I’m at #587 today. We do the alphabet game too, where the first letter in signs are your fodder. “The girl in the Cottonwood” sounds like the title of a novel.

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:31 pm

      Oh yes — we played the alphabet game in the car with our children as well. And we tent camped and sat around the fire making up stories…and we hiked and sang songs together.
      Oh yes………the books. Absolutely the books!

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  12. Abigail Gronway August 7, 2018 / 6:03 pm

    Very good thoughts, and put together nicely. Normally short lines speed up the reading of a poem, but you effectively slowed us down with your ellipses.

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:31 pm

      Yes….glad the ellipses worked for you 🙂 Glad you enjoyed.

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  13. Charley August 7, 2018 / 6:11 pm

    Certainly something that has become difficult to see in daily practice. I really enjoyed the formatting, the pacing. I breathed as I read… and took my time.

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:32 pm

      Yes — I read it aloud a number of times, adding the ellipses…..trying to slow it down. Glad that came across.
      PS: I still ask for stationery for Christmas and write letters! 🙂

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      • Charley August 12, 2018 / 5:57 pm

        I still buy stationery. I used to write long, long letters to friends.

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  14. nosaintaugustine August 7, 2018 / 6:46 pm

    A love letter to the lost art of just…being present. Something seemingly simple but something that is getting harder and harder to execute. The kids should have the same simple joys we enjoyed.

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:33 pm

      When our grandkids come stay with us….we paint, walk, play pick-up-sticks, color, play cards and board games. No tv; no movies; no devices. They know they’re always going to have a more quiet time here and we all enjoy 🙂

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:35 pm

      I agree. I suppose younger folks would point to “having so much more” — but I really love the idea of stationery, writing letters (I still do) — playing board games and cards with the children…and we still play pick-up-sticks with them! (grand kids)

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      • Bekkie Sanchez October 14, 2018 / 3:03 pm

        Board games are a lost art I really miss game nights. Most kids don’t know how to play card games unless it’s on a screen. They will have a hard time when they get older, what will they have to look back on? Too bad I won’t be around to see. Lol!

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  16. rothpoetry August 7, 2018 / 9:29 pm

    Very good. We are so geared to demand a three second response or faster that we rarely take time to listen or even want to. Sad!

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:36 pm

      I actually took a course in my MA degree on the art of listening. IE the importance of leaving space; and the importance of mirror feedback! 🙂

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  17. ZurkPoetry August 7, 2018 / 9:55 pm

    The fast pace of the current world can be very addictive, it’s nice to be reminded to slow down and take the time to wait. Reminds me of this song, https://youtu.be/X7NzNXTABMs. “Life is in the waiting”.

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:37 pm

      Glad you enjoyed.
      PS: I still ask for stationery for Christmas and write letters and send real cards for birthdays and Christmas!

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:37 pm

      Thank you! I kept reading it aloud and working to slow it down. Glad you felt it 🙂

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  20. Vandana Sharma August 8, 2018 / 4:51 am

    The basics of life, which are now a days flying away from us:(

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:38 pm

      I used to always say, “that’s why we have vacations!” But sadly, nowadays, I think most people jet off or have devices in their cars, and once at a place, rush here and there.

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:39 pm

      Thank you, Laura.
      I should add, our children always watched Mr. Rogers and the faster-paced Sesame Street. But in those days, there were also slower and thoughtful sections to Sesame Street as well 🙂

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  23. merrildsmith August 8, 2018 / 3:41 pm

    I enjoyed the pacing of this. I don’t know if patience is a completely lost art, but we certainly are used to instant gratification.

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:40 pm

      I agree! But I do think, for many, it is very very hard to slow down. And sadly, in the world of politics and media, it seems it is all too common to “shoot from the hip” without thinking.

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:41 pm

      Glad you enjoyed. I feel privileged to have spent some years in Marengo…in the countryside…in rural America. I think it offers the space to listen, and just be. 🙂

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  25. Lona Gynt August 8, 2018 / 7:24 pm

    Ok ok.. I think we all agree, we need to start a movement for more of this, we should organize and everything… yard signs and meme’s. Our slogan: Patience Now!! we can be the PN’s. (or does that sound too much like peon? oh well, we can sort that out later).
    Seriously, this is a lovely and true take on the lost art. Maybe we can hold it in our hand if we stand still long enough… but I will probably never know. 😉

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:42 pm

      Did you know, there actually is a group / movement called Simplicity? 🙂

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      • Lona Gynt August 9, 2018 / 1:46 pm

        I think they make patterns for home sewing do they not? Which always sounded so complicated to me 😉 never had the patience for that.

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      • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:51 pm

        Oh…you’ve taken me back to my sewing days with patterns from McCalls and Simplicity! 😊. No, I was actually referring to a Simplicity Movement. Many books on it etc. My daughter and her family try to do this – they go to Vermont each summer for several weeks – a simpler more natural way of life. Her children went to a one-week Trad Camp there — google it. Fiddle music, etc😊

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  26. Lona Gynt August 8, 2018 / 7:25 pm

    I especially loved:

    “To listen . . .
    leave space . . .
    to wait . . .
    slow down . . .
    to appreciate time.”

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:43 pm

      Thank you for this comment and the one above…So very glad you enjoyed.
      PS: I still ask for stationery for Christmas, write letters, and send real birthday cards and Christmas cards with hand written notes inside 🙂

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      • Lona Gynt August 9, 2018 / 1:49 pm

        That is admirable, it puts a flesh and blood imprint on the personal message. I happen to be the worst at such niceties, to my shame. But my daughter needed some stationary, so we went to the big box store to find some, we asked the clerk where the stationary was and she said that she would think it should pretty much always be in the same place. (hehe)

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  27. mhmp77 August 8, 2018 / 9:44 pm

    kaykuala

    A common sense attribute,
    I fear is becoming a lost art.
    Patience.

    Given life’s fast pace is the culprit

    Hank

    Liked by 1 person

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:43 pm

      Yep. Time to take a breath! 🙂

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    • lillian August 9, 2018 / 1:43 pm

      Me too….thankful for every day.

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  29. Linda Kruschke August 10, 2018 / 3:54 pm

    What a great choice of topic for a poem on unseen things. I think impatience is much more visible in people who apparently can’t see patience.

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  30. coalblack August 11, 2018 / 4:20 pm

    63 comments, geez, I feel superfluous but shall plunge on anyway. patience is indeed in very short supply, but i am a witness that it *can* be learned. I have always been the fool who rushes in, leading with her chin, but in my dotage–and with lessons learned from a friend–I have managed to cultivate at least a window box worth of patience these days. I do pause before acting or speaking. Miracle.

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