A Collection of Poems About Chunks of Time-Carson Taylor

Moments

There’s something beautiful in moments

Because in moments, all there are are details

There is no plot, there is no before and after

There is only this small slice of time

 

We forget most of our moments

And with them, we lose the details

The moments we do remember decay and warp with time

Recontextualized by millions of more moments 

 

But there is joy in forgetting

Because we cannot hold on to everything

That which does not slip through our fingers is gold

Panned from the rivers of our memories

 

The most beautiful moments mean nothing

We remember them not because they changed our lives

But because they caught our imagination

Snapped to attention amidst a fog of the forgotten

 

I remember sitting at school

Watching my friends spill milk on linoleum floors

Glossy “mozzarella” “cheese” you could roll into balls and bounce

Buoyed by the endless creativity of bored boys at lunchtime

 

I remember lying in the park

Six feet apart from friends on beach towels, hands picking at grass

Staring at the glint of the sun through thick foliage

Twisted through the air by a slight midday breeze

 

I remember biking down a hill

Going far faster than I had any right to on a second-hand BMX bike

The wheels wobble despite me and steady again, the wind bites at my hair

Tousled by an hour of reckless decision making

 

I remember moments like that from this summer

But I’m not going to tell you what they are

Because the beauty of moments lies in which details we remember

Preserved against our will in the back of our minds

 

I’m not sure what I’ll remember about this summer

I’m not sure what is going to survive the next ten years

But something will

And you were a part of it.

 

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The Salmon Swims Upstream

 

The salmon swims upstream

Through rustic rapids rushing

These calm cascades are crushing

They’re all he’s ever known

 

The stream splits like a seam

Into a river riding rougher

This time the task is tougher

He’s swimming now alone

 

The brook before was brief

Salmon swam side-by-side

Companions call and cry

They’ve lost one of their own

 

These goodbyes gain him grief

This tributary is tasking

His life, land, loves, none lasting

He learns, adapts, he’s grown

 

He begs for a brief break

Some slower swimming solace

Pining over a prior promise

Until a new life is shown

 

At long last lies the lake

Absence alleviated in amity

New friends to form fresh family

Another momentary home

 

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Cereal

 

A baby

Stares up at a mother, confused and hungry

I'm a picky eater for someone who's literally never eaten anything

Someone hands me a bottle

By far the best thing I've ever tasted

Just wait until I try cereal

I'll never eat anything else

 

A child

stares up at a grandfather, amazed he can pour milk

Thinking that's all I want to be

A copy, just like them

Except maybe an astronaut

Up in orbit, looking down

Making space cereal, or whatever they do up there

 

A teenager

Stares at an empty page, the application essay

I have to write about my life

Should I tell them about the space cereal?

Nah, that's a bad idea

Write something about chess club

That's way more interesting

 

An adult

Stares at their son, why is he so loud?

I haven't slept in a week and I'm super tired

Give him some cereal, he'll quiet down

None of that sugary stuff though

Maybe Dad will babysit tonight

I hope he knows how to text

 

A grandfather

Stares at his grandson, smiling in the inside

At the toddler staring wide-eyed back at me

You're your dad's problem now, little guy

He won't sleep for a week

Wait, he wants me to babysit?

Sure, I'll send him back with Lucky Charms

 

Today,

Looking back on my life

It's hard to make out the lessons

I've learned through the years

I'm only sure of two things:

I should've appreciated the moments I had

And I should have eaten more cereal

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Short

 

Did you expect more?

We were only here two months

Poetry takes time

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Goodbye my new friends

Thank you for all the moments

It’s been a pleasure