The Search for Souvenirs

In the last-minute search for souvenirs,
exploring experiences,
and squeezing in sights,
the most precious memento
is one that can’t be packaged or packed,
one that can’t be pictured or painted,
and one that can’t be worn or wrapped.
It is having no appointments to mark the hours,
no plans to fill the day,
no events to be seen on the horizon.
Each day, begun anew,
is invented and re-invented.
It is the gift of time,
slowed,
time less occupied,
and time less filled.
It is time found rather than lost,
time savoured rather than passed unnoticed,
and time present rather than absent,
It is the luxury of time unstructured,
which leaves us calm and craving more,
and that we try to take back with us.