The Seer

To live in the moment’s a well-worn routine
that most of the word has perfected;
for some, it’s the moment that’s already been,
for others, – the one that’s expected.

Yet no sort of magic can kindle anew
a past that is over for ever,
nor summon the future before it is due:
our moment is now – or it’s never.

So brief is the moment in which we may live,
and future or past it isn’t.
Whoever would know of what life has to give
must gratefully welcome the present.

~ Sent in by Peter Spinks — thank you Peter, who says, “I’m a lover of things Danish. On a visit to Copenhagen in 1975, a friend gave me “Grooks IV.” The author is Piet Hein — scientist, mathematician, inventor and poet … Danes rate him along with their butter, beer and bacon, among their national treasures.”