Patience

by John Herlihy

I usually rely on patience

The hush of patience purer

Than the rush of impatience 

The waiting feels as promise

A promise sure to be kept

When patience meets with arrival

And patience finds itself at an end

Yet patience continues to live within

A state of being in readiness

In readiness to serve the waiting

Filling the longing of expectation

With its air of mute grace

A quiet presence like silence

That whispers minutes of time

Yet within patience lies impatience 

At its core this act of denial

This struggle wishing to be free

The door of its birdcage opened

To rush forward, to claim its rights 

What is patience without impatience

Every opposite as hole to be filled

Yet over time, patience sings intimately

Melodies of mystery soon to be unveiled

Counting the minutes of the hour

Hope as sentinel at this guarded gate

A gate that will soon be opened

When patience has run its course 

And impatience has nothing left to tell

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Thursday 23 October 2025