Lillian here, delighted to host today’s Poetics. It seems I’ve been thinking about time alot lately. The passage of time; looking for Daylight Savings Time to start again; watching and waiting for winter to morph into spring; looking at my grandson and wondering how it’s possible that he’s about to become a teenager; counting down the days until we leave the end of March for our China and Japan back-to-back cruises.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:  a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 American Standard Version (ASV).

I really know next to nothing about the Bible – depending on your perspective that’s either good, bad, or it doesn’t much matter to you. But the Ecclesiastes verse quoted above has always stuck with me. Perhaps it’s because of the song Turn! Turn! Turn! written by Pete Seeger in the late 50s. It became an international hit in late 1965 when it was adapted by the American folk rock group the Byrds. I’ve always loved the song.

So – morphing into today’s prompt, I’d like you to do one of three things:

1) pick one or two of the times mentioned in the Ecclesiastes quotation and include it/them word for word, in a poem;

OR 2) pick one or two of the times mentioned in the Ecclesiastes quotation and let it/them motivate your poem – no need to mention it/them word for word but we should be able to identify the reference;

OR 3) create your own time frame and write a poem that includes the words “a time to _____________” OR “a time for _____________” (you fill in the blank).

I look forward to spending some time with you — I’ll just sit here turning, turning, turning on my barstool till your words appear!

For those of you new to dVerse, here’s what we hope everyone does:

• Write a poem following the directions above, using either 1, 2 OR 3 and post it to your blog.
• Click on Mr. Linky below to add your name and enter the direct URL to your poem
• On your blog, please provide a link back to dVerse. This enables others to enjoy our prompts, multiples our readers and thus the responses to everyone’s poems.
• If you promote your poem on social media, use the tag #dverse poets
• And most importantly, please do read some of the other responses to the prompt and add a short comment or reaction. Everyone likes to be appreciated! The prompt is “live” for several days – as you’ll notice by the comments you’ll receive – so do stop by another day and read a few of the latecomers too!