Then And There

The way my life has come and gone,

except for the fact of causality,

has little to do with the present.

By this I mean, I know there were causes

created by what I did, or what happened,

yet what I did, and whatever happened,

I see as what is now my past.

I did it, or perhaps it happened.

I saw it happen and see what will,

at least in some limited way.

And these are my thoughts:

the past and future.

I am devoid of a thoughtful present.

Sages tell us to live in the present,

embrace the moment, the here and now.

For me these were

and are and will be

the there and then

of some other time.

The present, as a matter of thought, is not.