CHANGE AND CONTINUITY

Travelling expands the epic range
of our encounters, shapes our consciousness
and character. Retracing steps helps reassess,
as we internalise continuous change.

Returning after many years
to places we have been before
is rediscovery and more ..
fond memories and treasured tears.

Coming back to dear vacation sites
awakens dormant feelings and ambiguous moods.
Some sights and sounds, some fragrances and foods
can kindle amber passions -- inner lights.

And yet, the rivers that we crossed are not the same.*
We see all things through more experienced eyes.
Surprise upon surprise -- our fleeting paradise!
Heraclitus knew well that change is life's true name.

Grateful for the gift of awe, our leisure
brings us precious insights -- not just pleasure.
Coming back to cherished spaces
lets us count our blessings, conscious of our graces.

Returning with your spouse to landscapes
we have known and loved confirms identity,
how we have grown together, where we want to be.
We pause and smile while planning future escapades.

Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis**
Seasons come and go, the trees turn golden,
Nature's genial hues make us beholden,
rain and snow announce new roses, tulips, lilies...

Change is often for the better -- or for worse.
We navigate through storms and straits,
accept what comes, defy the fates,
revere our heritage, this common universe.

Life is motion, luck and ambiguity.
Best is change in vital continuity.

 

*No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man. Heraclitus of Ephesus (535-475 BC) Homeric Allegories

**Ovidius, Metamorphoseon libri 15, 165
Times change – and we change with the times.