The poem that seems to define the NOW

The Journey
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--determined to save
the only life you could save.

Mary Oliver

Carnival

Let's go to the carnival.
Let's watch the acrobats fly, let's imagine they are us.
Let's fly freely, with no fear of falling.

A rose? Sure, I will take one. I will wear it in my hair.
I am a gypsy. I come with the wind, I leave when the flowers bloom.
You want to ride the carousel?
Be careful. The world is spinning, the colors bleed and blend.
What color are you?

Yes, the clowns are here too.
They make me laugh... a little. I just know they are sad.
I know, I should ask them to fly.

Today, the clowns are acrobats, the acrobats are elephants,
and we are endless.