"Today" - Freeform Poem
Today,
the days roll by like the wheels
of an ever accelerating truck.
Life’s pace at an all-time high,
showing no indication of slackening.
Today,
is a time differing greatly
from the days of generations preceding ours.
Any last shard of the gratitude they possessed has since fallen behind,
its legs unable to keep up with this new way of living.
Today,
more and more expected,
less and less attainable.
Blindly observing as this
faster rate slows the development of our society.
Today,
we spend mass amounts of time and effort focused on
our own struggle to succeed
with no time left over to
enjoy the activities we previously did.
Today,
our apparently absent appreciation, it should be abased.
This state we are acclimated to, an abject affliction to
the generations before who exerted themselves
to get us here.
Today,
a centuries old onlooker would ask:
How did we end up here?
Where have the good times gone?
Why do expectations and stress rise like our oceans, while
gratitude and respect falls like the trees of our rainforests?
…
Yesterday,
was a simpler time.
When neighbor helped neighbor,
a hand was always extended,
and the world had not yet accelerated.
Yesterday,
we could see what we can not now see,
the beauty in everything around us.
The insignificant victories of everyday life
and the fact they can drastically improve our lives.
Yesterday,
we knew more than today.
We ran at a more than adequate pace.
The world pushed our lives forward, not backward,
and we were more developed than ever before.
Yesterday,
was not like today.
the days roll by like the wheels
of an ever accelerating truck.
Life’s pace at an all-time high,
showing no indication of slackening.
Today,
is a time differing greatly
from the days of generations preceding ours.
Any last shard of the gratitude they possessed has since fallen behind,
its legs unable to keep up with this new way of living.
Today,
more and more expected,
less and less attainable.
Blindly observing as this
faster rate slows the development of our society.
Today,
we spend mass amounts of time and effort focused on
our own struggle to succeed
with no time left over to
enjoy the activities we previously did.
Today,
our apparently absent appreciation, it should be abased.
This state we are acclimated to, an abject affliction to
the generations before who exerted themselves
to get us here.
Today,
a centuries old onlooker would ask:
How did we end up here?
Where have the good times gone?
Why do expectations and stress rise like our oceans, while
gratitude and respect falls like the trees of our rainforests?
…
Yesterday,
was a simpler time.
When neighbor helped neighbor,
a hand was always extended,
and the world had not yet accelerated.
Yesterday,
we could see what we can not now see,
the beauty in everything around us.
The insignificant victories of everyday life
and the fact they can drastically improve our lives.
Yesterday,
we knew more than today.
We ran at a more than adequate pace.
The world pushed our lives forward, not backward,
and we were more developed than ever before.
Yesterday,
was not like today.
High expectations in the modern world diminish the ability to enjoy the insignificant aspects of life.