Poems In Paragraphs

Now: The Present of the Present

So, you've made it this far, you feel you're past the worst, but you know there could possibly be worse up ahead, but for now, things are okay. The now, is okay, so you must stay in the now. This, will be your challenge. Although right now things are not bad, you will look back. Sure, it is what you have passed, but that doesn't make it hurt any less than it did when it was happening. You feel the same things you felt, you remember the pain, and you may be urged to look farther. This will be another mistake. Once you look past the pain, you see the happiness. This seems good, it is not. When you see the darkness in the past, it becomes the now. When you see the light in the past, it is only a reminder of what you had. You must look past the dark to see the light, but the darkness is like a tinted window. Everything you see, is no longer pure, but tinted with darkness, a reminder of what you could have, the mistake you made, or the one you didn't, the people that once were or the person that was once you. All of these things are the light, but only when lived. But the past will not be the only thing keeping you from the present. Another formidable challenge, is the future. You may see the future in one of two ways. One is with a light, the other is without, but with light, it is a tightrope walk, without light, the only fear is the darkness...the question is, which is worse?...the only garuntee is that we will never answer that question. To look onward with hope is to look onward with the light. It will brighten what you look at and it will seem easier to move on. But hope is a dangerous thing, and we can never get rid of all of it. To have this hope is to be walking the tightrope, to put yourself up, is to give yourself the danger of falling. The light is on, you are up high, but one wrong move, and you lose all that good and desend into darkness. To approach with no hope, is to approach with no light, or should I say very little light; for there is always hope, and therefore always light...this is what will end some of us. But without this light you approach with lowered expectations, you are not setting yourself up for possible failure. You are limiting your losses, only a tiny amount of darkness may desend on you now. But by limiting your losses, you are limiting your comforts as well. You have very little happiness but very little danger of loss as well. You will never know which path is better, it is impossible to tell, but it is a choice that can help you, or end you. This is why the future gives us anxiety, and why we must not look there while we are in the now. The now, when at least mildly good, or "okay" can be the best thing we experience in our times of darkness. The problem is, we never take the time to live in or appreciate the present, we are always looking at the future, or past. So I say enjoy the now, before it is over, it doesn't take long to end, and if you see what I see when you look forward or behind you, you already know it won't last. Now...all that's left to do, is enjoy it...while it lasts...