Interstate Pondering – A Poem About How Fast Life Goes By

Every time I turn around
I have just enough time to catch a glimpse
Of years like Indy cars zipping around the track
At the 500 fly by.
Hours vanish with hands racing
Around the clock at hyper-speed.
Days depart with only skid marks
And the lingering odor of burnt rubber.
Months like taxi cabs you flag down,
But never seem to notice your cries
For them to slow down when you’re already late
And catch a ride to travel towards your goals.
Life is a vacation that is always over much too fast
And before you know it you’re grey and old.
Youth leisurely lingers like a traffic jam,
Slow enough to notice all the details and lines of the road.
And yet ignorance shields your mind
From realizing it’s just rush hour traffic –
Soon your will be speeding away at 70 mph,
Barely able to take in the sights and memories
Before they exist far in the past.
But life gives you no leeway to miss your exits.
If you fail to read the signs
It’s tough shit and time to carry on.
Our only advice is Carpe Diem, seize the day,
Because tomorrow yesterday slips through our fingers and is gone.
The madness of time is its inconsiderate ability
To let you be aware of its passing
Only after your car breaks down, your engine shot,
And smoke pours from underneath your hood
Just before your long awaited destination
Can be seen on the horizon.
But there’ll be no more driving.
That exit you’ve searched all these years
Will remain in the distance.
You’ll only stay still for a second
Before the tow truck arrives and drops you off at the junk yard
To deteriorate with all the other vehicles
That once frequented the roads of life.
So look around.
Be aware of your surroundings.
If you’re flying down the interstate
Appreciate and take in your trip
Because its the only trek you’ll ever take
And before you know it
It’ll be over.

-Poem Written by Justin Farley

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photo credit: Wind farm and greenhouse gas farm, together via photopin (license)