How Children and Adults View Time and Space
Karl Constantine FOLKES 1935 (Portland)
Irony of Time.
The ways we humans see it.
How it is measured.
In so many different ways.
During the human lifespan.
When we are children.
Just starting out our lifespan.
A day seems quite short.
But a year — forever long.
As if it would never end.
True, that makes much sense.
For a two year-old infant.
Since one year is half.
Of that child’s entire life.
Must seem like a century.
On the contrary.
In senior years of adult life.
Time seems so short-lived.
Each day begs for lingering.
But a year comes too quickly.
Children and adults.
Inhabit different spaces.
See time differently.
Adults see time running out.
Children see it lingering.
And did not Einstein
After keen contemplation.
Call Time relative.
He should have observed children.
Earn from them native wisdom.
Suffer thus children.
To bring to us their knowledge.
How they view the world.
Of such is source of wisdom.
Offered without pretenses.
From conversation.
This poem was created.
A child and grandpa.
Both discussing Time and Space.
Both sharing their reflections.
The thirteen year-old.
At the end of a school day.
Sharing how each day.
Seemed to swiftly pass away.
But a year seemed forever.
This sparkled a thought.
How I saw Time differently.
Unlike my grandchild.
She, looking at the distance.
To realize her life’s dreams.
And I, retired.
Now, stretching out each moment.
A year being short.
Grandfather and granddaughter.
Measuring Time differently.
Irony of Time.
The ways we humans see it.
How it is measured.
In so many different ways.
During the human lifespan.
About this poem
This poem falls into the realm of human perception, human behavior, and the nature of human reality Itself. Dear reader and fellow traveler of life, have you ever wondered how children and adults view time and space quite differently; that while we, as social beings, commune, communicate, and dwell, mostly together, and sometimes even apart, we inhabit different spaces and different senses of time? My thirteen year-old middle school granddaughter, Mikaiya Zenee Beasley, eagerly brought this to my attention, when she, being driven on the way home from school, announced dramatically to me: “Grandpa, each day is so short, while a year seems forever!” This ‘quirky’ question, bearing a puzzling, yet strident philosophical contrast, registered strongly in my poetic ears. It made my heart leap upwards in reflective thought; and I informed my granddaughter that her remarks seemed so ironically relevant. Her follow up response was immediate: “Grandpa, you should put our conversation into a poem. I would like to reflect, as time goes by, on what we, in this moment, have shared together.” It is that discussion, that interesting engagement with my granddaughter, that constitutes the genesis and creation of this poem, which is composed in Tanka 5-7-5-7-7 syllabic format, in twelve stanzas, to convey the personal emotional expression shared by an octogenarian grandfather and his thirteen year-old granddaughter. The poem is written in the form of a poetic Inclusio, with the first and last stanzas being of identical composition to encourage reflection. Indeed, as another thinker, another commentator of space and time, once so prudently observed, the child is father of the man. more »
Written on November 02, 2022
Submitted by karlcfolkes on November 02, 2022
Modified by karlcfolkes on November 03, 2022
- 1:39 min read
- 766 Views
Quick analysis:
| Scheme | ABCDE fegxx xhxij jixkj xxjxk xfxfl fxxlx fxxxx xmmmn xjxxx xhgnj ABCDE |
|---|---|
| Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
| Characters | 1,560 |
| Words | 332 |
| Stanzas | 12 |
| Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
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"How Children and Adults View Time and Space" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/141783/how-children-and-adults-view-time-and-space>.
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