Free Will

A brief reflection on time, opportunity, and responsibility

Free Will

The past is a rock, written and locked.
Kept warm in your heart or rued in the dark -
it's chiseled in stone.

The future is mist, where all choices exist.
Great hopes and grand dreams, or trivial schemes -
forever unknown.

The present is clay that we shape every day.
The marks that we make, in time's kiln are baked -
but never alone.

Always take care that the story you share
is filled with the deeds you'd be proud to read
in front of His throne.

 

Terrence G. Fisher 2018

 


Author's note: ▶︎

12 lines of iambic pentameter (mostly)
the rhyme scheme is (aa)(bb)c

I always tried to teach my kids that whatever we do, good or bad, it becomes a part of our 'permanent record'. Even if no one ever knows about a secret sin or anonymous good deed, it will live forever in our memory. My inspiration for the poem came partly from this quote:
 
"The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present." - Alice Morse Earle