As the years slip by…
For every blissful balmy day,
That once, as a child,
Seemed so endless…
Now there’s a pace
And a harshness
In the weather
That it sometimes feels like
Was never there before.
And to think that
Every crease
In this kind landscape of ours
Was once a vibrant river of sorts,
Even if it was only the briefest,
Most ancient of glacial rushes
That caused the first scar.
And so it is also
On the terrain of the soul,
Where sprites can dance
So freely,
The dice are rolled
And energy bends time,
Making daylight of passion.
Though given
All this froth and ferment,
Perhaps discernment of risk,
Is a curse,
Or maybe it’s a blessing?
For much as it maybe
An uncomfortable truth,
That most of us
Would far rather renounce,
Together we all live every moment
On the very brink;
The razor’s edge
Of ecstasy or disaster.
But rarely meet either, of course…
That goes with the ticket though,
Doesn’t it?
The price of admission to so much:
The chance of such warmth on our skin,
As well as the sweet, sweet air
We suck into our lungs to cry.
Room to stretch, to grow, to dream…
Very nice Scott….I am so proud of you and all of your accomplishments…I loved “As the years” and all of your poetry really…Best Wishes! Marilyn
Another deep, soulful poem that resonates the complexity of our inner struggles. Well done!
This piece comes to speak of beauty, but still ever so softly asks questions that are deep and moving, without ever offending or scorning the reader. This is important, because you want to give the reader something to chew on, without insulting their sensibilities.
And to think that
Every crease
In this kind landscape of ours
Was once a vibrant river of sorts,
Even if it was only the briefest,
Most ancient of glacial rushes
That caused the first scar.
And
For much as it maybe
An uncomfortable truth,
That most of us
Would far rather renounce,
then the final:
That goes with the ticket though,
Doesn’t it?
The price of admission to so much:
The chance of such warmth on our skin,
Well done and worth the time to read.
Thanks always Scott.
It’s always so good to read your excellent poems. Thankyou
Thanks, Scott! Your poetry is inspiring. 🙂 Have a great day!
Hiya,
This is a beautiful poem. If you would be interested in having it published in our emag let me know.
Myra Nour
BTS CEO
I love this! Makes me think and feel.
Life does hurry us along, and to what end…
A searching poem beautifully rendered. Thank you.
I think the most important part is that we always allow ourselves room to grow..and find a way to influence those who we live with to do as such..so….
What resonated with me strongly, Scott, was the mention of how we all live in the moment….on the very brink of either ecstasy or disaster. Yes, I think this is true. And yes, we all want that warmth on our skin! Nicely penned, Scott!
This is my favorite bit,
“On the terrain of the soul,
Where sprites can dance
So freely,
The dice are rolled
And energy bends time,
Making daylight of passion.”
I loved the picture it painted in my head.
There is pain and hope covering those deep sentiments of life… Love how you did it…
Scott I liked this poem very much. A well thought out pondering on the nature of experience and its reality in consequencews or ont. Very refreshing. >KB
Room to stretch, to grow, to dream…… Def. the journey can be an exhausting one at times.. And the map more complicated than we have ever imagined… Life and love has lots of intensity in store…in both directions..
Its so interesting checking on your poetry again today! Yeah, your work structures itself with such a cool sound! Always a Good read!
Nice…the razors edge of ecstasy and disaster….life itself is a gamble…that could go either way…this is the risk of truly living…the price of admission as you say…good to see something new by you sir…and sounds like you had a great trip….
A great capture…life does slip by and lately I am asking myself a lot of hard questions about the whole picture that it is.
Great work
Trying to count the cost when things move so quickly
Expressed well here
I really enjoyed the last stanza and the last line
was perfect…may we always stretch to dream..I’m
glad I stopped by to read..
Profound and as deep as an ancient river cutting through the landscape of our minds. Thanks for sharing your beautiful thoughts with us Scott!
This is wonderful. The first stanza is perfect. 🙂
The natural imagery in this piece really suits life’s journey. Beautiful work.
Whenever I feel stressed or overwhelmed, I turn to a dose of Scott Hastie Creativity. Soothing, lyrical beauty in word, color and shadow. Marvellous
I enjoyed reading this poem.
What a thrilling, heartfelt write! Sounds like silver when read aloud…the third stanza, in particular, resonates w. me… I love your poetry, Scottie..thank you for sharing 🙂 xo
Beautiful piece of writing, Scott. The last stanza ties it up perfectly. Hope all is well with you.
Pamela
Yes it’s true we rarely meet with ecstasy or disaster, but when we do…
This is a very fine poem.
Scott, you have such a way with words that, in your combinations, they reach deeper than they would in someone else’s. Your symbolism for our perception of time as time passes is so accurate that one could cry out of melancholy,remembering that beauty is a welcome source of tears as well. Thank you for a poem to treasure!
Love that last verse. The price of admission, indeed… Thank you for sharing this with us.
I loved reading this – you’ve really captured the human situation!
Very nice – Thank you..
Your Poems as ever very angelic and indeed Maya in the truest sense. You are truly gifted and blessed to move and touch souls.. God bless you Scott!
“Together we all live every moment
On the very brink”.
With your poetry, dear Scott, you touch the hearts of people living all around the world. In doing so, you offer us a feeling of togetherness, for which I thank you very much!
Well constructed poem, defining every aspects of human life, nature and environment, bringing understanding and satisfaction to the reader.
Thought provoking…..
j:))
What I love about poems is that they don’t have to be formatted in any particular way. They’re the poet’s own to shape, mold and style whichever way they please. It’s also one of the ultimate ways to show self expression. And that’s why I chose to review Scott Hastie’s recent poem “As the years…”
Poems can be tricky little bastards sometimes and what may appear to be the obvious theme of the poem to the poet, might not be the same theme that the reader interprets. So, if any one has a different interpretation to “As the years…”, I’m always open-minded. Just leave a comment and I’ll be sure to check it out. With that said, reading “As the years…” was quite moving for me… I mean, the poem – to me – is all about change (something that I’m all too familiar with). But not just any change. Scott Hastie speaks about change in your everyday lives while linking it to the finicky environment. He talks about change as if it were a ticket to the biggest event of our nugatory lives. As if being able to enjoy the rays of sunshine and the windy days are worth the price of change. Worth the price of uncertainty.
On top of this, Hastie uses phrases such as “Making daylight of passion” that just bring out the metaphor freak in me. So much so that I actually created a list of my favourite phrases from this poem:
“And energy bends time, Making daylight of passion”
“Every crease, In this landscape of ours”
“Most ancient of glacial rushes, That caused the first scar”
“…terrain of the soul”
“An uncomfortable truth”
“The razor’s edge, Of ecstasy or disaster”
With the aid of these phrases, I’m not only shown how change affects us but also get to see it firsthand. If you’ve read any of Scott Hastie’s poems, you’d know that he’s one for extensive use of metaphors. And which is something that has made him one of my favourite poets so far. Along with Lee Haydn Straight, of course.
Leigh-Ann Brodber, Reviewer at The Young Folks/ Reviewer at What’s Up With That http://www.theyoungfolks.com
Thank you so much for your words. As I said before, the words of your poems are a calm and a soothing refuge to me. As a Literature student and teacher, we analyze and discuss many poems applying various theories of Derrida, Freud, Lacan, Eagleton, Kafka, Camus , Barthes and the list is endless. Academic circles concentrate only on these theories and majorly preoccupied with dissecting it like a rat in the laboratory but at the end what really matters is the words that truly touch the soul of a person. That’s why Shakespeare, Keats and Wordsworth remain in the hearts and linger on like a sweet perfume long after the book is up the shelf. Your poems are surreal and have the quality of classics. The taste and the fragrance of your poems lingers like a beautiful aura. Life forces ebb and flow, watching life is like being a spectator of one of the plays of Absurd Theatre. We are all like Sisyphus, we need to love our destiny and suffering is a choice. After all… life is full of sound and fury signifying nothing. As you say in one of your poems “…even the smooth stones ache… with stories of their own.. in the shuddering light of the day” Beautiful.
Beautifully insightful, a grace of words and meaning Scott.
Beautiful written poem, Scott. It’s sad but the bad always happens for a reason.
Visiting you once more on this poem today. Really makes me think again about many things. In my earlier comment I was moved by the fact that we lived on the brink of both disaster and ecstasy. That still is the thing that most strikes me about this poem. Another thing I am struck by is the change from the blissful balmy day to harsher weather as time goes on. Wishing you a good week, Scott!
Lots to ponder about, Scott. 🙂
“Together we all live every moment
On the very brink;
The razor’s edge
Of ecstasy or disaster.
But rarely meet either, of course…”
Great lines! so true, I guess. So often our dreams are unrealized.
‘Now there’s a pace
And a harshness
In the weather’…….great realization….very nice write up….
I like your work with the central metaphor here.. the ‘crease in the landscape’ and ‘terrain of souls’.
“and so it is also on the terrain of the soul” – and “always on the brink of ecstasy and disaster”……absolutely the way it feels. Well captured!
The trials and tribulations of life together with the wonder all accentuated as one reaches closer to the end of it. Well expressed!
I believe that as we grow older, the pace of life reminds us that nature is out of our control, as is most of the world that surrounds us. Perhaps that is why we harken back to days of youth when ignorance was blissful and surrender was sweet.
Loved how you ended the poem – Room to stretch, to grow, to dream… – that for me pretty much summed up the essence of life.
Languid meditative flow of thoughts, captures the lazy twists and turns of our nostalgic ruminations.
You are in your best element Scot, when you express your thoughts freely out of the box, when the emotions flow smoothly in the fluid lines that are not controlled by rules. The poet becomes himself undictated by poetic rules or styles and this recent poem “As the Years….” did just that. Kudos and God bless.
So so true. Thank you.
I have no other comment than “absolutely beautiful”
With love,
Mei
Life, sweet and bitter experiences, and I also wonder sometimes whether it was a curse or blessing…. You took me somewhere else with this poem tonight, somewhere very far…
Wonderful and thoughtful account of life! A lovely and heart-touching poem, Scott. Thank you!
Hi Scott, love your work. Thanks for sharing, so uplifting. Beautiful writing that calms, soothes and makes you feel good.
Absolutely marvellous write! I love the way you’ve roped in the freedom of childhood days and juxtaposed it with the days of adult travails in just a few lines in the first stanza. And then so much more follows, so many remarkable observations of precious time slipping by, of us living at the edge of disaster and ecstasy but miraculously meeting neither! This is another treasure of a write dear Scott and the flow is as smooth as water…it simply swirls around my heart!
Very Dear Sir,
Your poems are seas of deep thought, interwinned with deep feeling.. and throughout the two poems I read, you have always a link of beauty… which is very impressive ” the crease…. which was once a river..” and the warmth too…
You are a wonderful poet, sir, and one can learn much from you.. I also think that it is some new direction of poetry.. not to the little, mundane things but to the things of a higher level of pondering.. Thank you so much, I hope to read more. Hedva
Scott sir, I liked the beautiful use of metaphors eg: we all live a life on the brink of razor’s edge, of ecstasy or disaster, similarly blessing or curse… and similes too, in your lovely philosophical poem… All the yin yang of life’s joys and sorrows and thereby, the following turbulence in mind… Sscillating between hope and despair, so subtly portrayed in your delicate poem.
keep up the good work with your innovative creative genius, as always, Scott sir.
God Bless!
Thanks for posting and sharing!
With earnest and fondest regards
Neena
Heart warming verse. And inspiring as well…
Lovely 🙂
Love the metaphors and really enjoyed reading this.
Happy Holiday Scott.
Warm regards,
This is a beautiful poem full of imagery that you can not forget. It also give us a lot to consider about nature and really makes one think. A great poem is one with different levels like this one.
Love how geographics, time, energy and spirituality, have all been encompassed into this poem. Time, space and placement seem to have so much hold on what will be in our lifetime. How many of us stop to realise the potential of our own lot? How many of us see the disasters and scars others face and hold, those so often so much worse off than ourselves. How much better then our own circumstance, how much more then should we be grateful for what we have/hold in so many circumstances…
Scott, I’ve been away for an extended period and in the midst of a move but how very nice to come back to take in this wonderful words. You never cease to engage and inspire. The price of admission indeed… Marvellous.