#the present

by W.S. Merwin

As they were leaving the garden one of the angels bent down to them and whispered

I am to give you this as you are leaving the garden

I do not know what it is or what it is for what you will do with it

you will not be able to keep it but you will not be able

to keep anything yet they both reached at once

for the present and when their hands met

This reminded me of you.

He's won before. In the PAST. He's also been a part of a server with a similar gimmick (jumping versions) in the PAST. Maybe this fits Pearl and Grian, too, but either way, it still fits. Idk it’s like 3 am I need to go to bed.

On another note, speaking of the past, Idk if I’ve ever actually heard this said before, but “The past is the present and the present is the past” is actually a fun little line that would fit a time travel scenario—whether it be in a movie, book, show, fanfiction, or whatever. It’s not extremely deep, but could have two (three?) different yet similar meanings depending on how your time travel works.

One, the past is the present and the present is the past. This could simply mean you’re in (stuck or otherwise) the past, and where you were before, your present, is now your past because you’re now in the past. Pretty much just surface level. Can be Avengers: Endgame sorta time travel, could not be. Either is fine.

Two, the past is the present and the present is the past. This could mean you’re in, or more likely stuck in, the past, possibly forever. The past is your present (and your future). The “present” is now the past. You can never get back to your old life. If you did travel back, it won’t be the same. The present you once knew is the past, replaced by something unfamiliar and odd, never to be seen again. This is more like Back to the Future.

And then I sorta hinted at a possible third. Tbh I don’t remember what that was but I came up with something else. The past is the present and the present is the past. The two timelines have merged, either literally or figuratively. For the former, it’s like what was happening in the first MLP equestria girls movie. The two worlds, even though it had nothing to do with time (as little as it can with how space and time often go hand in hand and are intertwined, at least), were literally merging. Or something. Idk it’s been a while since I watched that movie. For the latter, it doesn’t have to be necessarily time travel, but it can be. This is something that often occurs in real life. Someone from your past returns. They enter your present time, appear randomly when it’s been years. Or someone from your present ended up being there in the past, even if you didn’t know it yet (an example could be that your new friend was friends with your old friend before you became friends with said old friend. This has happened to me btw. My friend from my new school ended up actually having been friends with my old best friend before she (new friend) moved to my current/new school. Anyways sorry I’m rambling).

[Louise Bourgeois :: Mother and Child I. 2007.]

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from Jane Hirshfield The Present

I wanted to give you something — no stone, clay, bracelet, no edible leaf could pass through. Even a molecule's fragrance by then too large. Giving had been taken, as you soon would be. Still, I offered the puffs of air shaped to meaning. They remained air. I offered memory on memory, but what is memory that dies with the fallible inks? I offered apology, sorrow, longing. I offered anger. How fine is the mesh of death. You can almost see through it. I stood on one side of the present, you stood on the other.