The Two Worlds of Time



The two worlds of time.
The first is material.
As for the second.
That one is spiritual.
It is the world of above.

The world of today.
That’s “olam ha-zeh “
Totally physical world.
A world of dualities.
Opposition rules this world.

Warfare prevalent.
Hatred, racism flourish.
All is bittersweet.
Though nations rise in glory.
Poverty restrains much growth.

Might is well displayed.
Kings, queens, and the heads of state.
Hail democracy.
That leaves many wondering.
What’s in it for you and me?

All of this observed:
The wealthy get wealthier.
The poor get poorer.
The world looks for solutions.
Challenge for economists.

Yet another world.
That contrasts with the first world.
 The world of above.
And it is made of spirit.
The world of “olam ha-ba.”

This world is timeless.
The world of above.
Some call it eternity.
The world one strives to attain.
The word of saints — not sinners.

We can read of it.
In Second Corinthians.
Look at chapter four.
And scrutinize verse eighteen.
It explains all succinctly.

These are its own words:
“We look not to things that’s seen.
But to things unseen.
For things seen are transient.
But unseen things eternal.”

The two worlds of time.
The first one is physical.
Where time is measured.
Where all differences count.
The world of “olam ha-zeh.”

And then the second.
This world is spiritual.
Its measure unknown.
Where Unity is what counts.
The world of “olam ha-ba.”

Though forever bound.
The two in opposition.
Two different measures.
Takes one to know the other.
The “Now” and the “Hereafter.”

“Olam ha-zeh” time.
Like things that are physical.
Is never lasting.
A paradigm of matter.
Of empirical nature.

“Olam ha-ba” time.
Is a spiritual time.
And therefore unseen.
A paradigm of spirit.
Paradigm of Unity.

In summary, then:
Both worlds have different measures.
One is quite concrete.
Its calculus is standard.
Measured by Einstein’s physics.

As for the other.
Measured by metaphysics.
It is imagined.
No beginning or ending.
Circle of eternity.

About this poem

This poem, “The Two Worlds of Time,” employs two rabbinic phrases to distinguish the two notions or concepts of time. The first phrase, “olam ha-zeh , translates in English literally as “this world,” or the world of physical earthly time that is described metaphorically as “passing,” or as “flowing,” or as “moving,” or as “running;” and which can be measured as having both a starting point and an ending point. The second phrase, “olam ha-ba,” translated in English literally as “the next world,” or as “the world to come,” is suggestive of a concept of “timelessness” or of infinite time; as eternity, that which is without ending, or perhaps even without a beginning; appealing to an understanding of the spiritual. While the two concepts of time appear to be distinguishable opposites, they are both without definite finite descriptions, each turning toward the other in metaphysical fashion, like the metaphysician’s snake that bites its own tale in order to comprehend that which seemingly evades it. 

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Written on February 16, 2022

Submitted by karlcfolkes on February 16, 2022

Modified on March 05, 2023

2:08 min read
343

Quick analysis:

Scheme Abcbd xefef gxhix xxiji xkkxx ffDlM xDixn lexoi xoogb Abpxe cbxxM xcnkk abjkk aaoli xnhpq kqcji
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 2,050
Words 428
Stanzas 16
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Karl Constantine FOLKES

 · 1935 · Portland

Retired educator of Jamaican ancestry with a lifelong interest in composing poetry dealing particularly with the metaphysics of self-reflection; completed a dissertation in Children’s Literature in 1991 at New York University entitled: An Analysis of Wilhelm Grimm’s ‘Liebe Mili’ (translated into English as “Dear Mili”), Employing Von Franzian Methodological Processes of Analytical Psychology. The subject of the dissertation concerned the process of Individuation. more…

All Karl Constantine FOLKES poems | Karl Constantine FOLKES Books

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