Impatiens Ain’t Just a Flower

      I had come across a wonderful quote attributed to William Butler Yeats about waiting patiently – which I tucked away in my plastic Cap’n Crunch treasure chest – for some future use. I thought ‘Patiently Waiting’ made for a great title (or tattoo) – however, I recently discovered that Yeats “borrowed” the quote from playwright Eden Phillpotts’ 1919 book of vignettes entitled A Shadow Passes, with the change of two words.  Phillpotts’ original reads – “The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.” Phillpotts’ use of “universe” over Yeats’ “world,” holds a much deeper meaning for me.

    I try – I really do – I try my own patience, but it is so hard to find calm in this fast paced/ immediate need world we find ourselves in.  As a lapse-Buddhist, patience is that seemingly unattainable goal. As a surfer patience is a must. For a serious coffee addict, waiting for the first pot of the morning can seem an eternity. Dogs. Horses. Children. Patience is the key. And as a human being sharing this rock, speeding through space, with others, well. . .

   Our days are filled with those moments, but, for me it is as a poet that patience becomes a necessity. Somedays words come at a lightning pace, with a final line eluding me; other days it is a single line that comes with a basement of space that taunts me. Patience. Then comes the submission process, with multiple pieces out there for months, the waiting can be like watching the coffee pot. Patience.  It is our job to put things out there. . .and wait.

    I believe in magical things. I believe that the things that are meant to be, will be.  All things will come in good time. I believe in words, and I believe in the universe. Breathe. Watch the surf. Pour yourself another cup. Everything changes, just Wait – Patiently.

   

 

    “The cream will indeed rise to the top,

     where it will immediately be stolen

    for the morning coffee

   by the addict who patiently waits.”