Waves ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #27

I watch the flow of time
The rise and ebb of civilizations
Like waves rolling up
On a long, shallow beach

Each wave believing
It will roll on forever

Obstacles

The obstacles in my path
Alter my flow
Creating new patterns
Of experience
In the eddies

Beautiful patterns
Surprising, exquisite
Challenging, evocative
Alarming, provocative

I leave behind
Remnants of the past
Which moulder and decay
In lingering neglect

When I return
To pick them up
They are no longer
The same moments

As the days go by
Time chips away
At memories
Falling away
As flakes of rust
From old iron

As the years proceed
The man I was
Drifts further
And further
Into the shadows
Until, in the mirror
There is only
The man who is

I measure time
Not in terms of history
But by how much
I have left to do

In the gathering dusk
I am grateful
For a fast, wide lens
And a ridiculously high
ISO

Else I’d have never known
The depths of blue
The click of a shutter
Could create
In just half a second

I love old wood
Its warmth
Its texture

I love the way time
And the elements enhance
Its beauty
Its value

Sometimes
Life goes
Off the rails

I can let
The consequences
Lay where they come to rest

I reach too far
And get blown back

But that’s OK

Too far
Is simply a place
I haven’t learned to reach

Just yet

There is nothing simpler
Nor more beautiful
Than two kids and a puck
On a small patch of ice
Cleared of snow
On a frozen lake
Anywhere in Canada