Here is a poem to think by, written by the Welsh poet William Henry Davies (1871 – 1940). Davies spent much of his life on the road, literally and even wrote a book called Diaries of a Supertramp (No he was not a member of the ’70s band, though there is a link there I think).
It seems that Davies was one of life’s great observers, watching the world unfold with a quizzical eye and a wandering mind. Even though his words here are sometimes a little clumsy maybe, they bring to mind the deep human need to take time out. To stop and stare and think. Or just to stop and stare. Or simply to stop.
Leisure
What is this life, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care
We have no time to stand and stare.
