𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗥𝗬: “Carpe Diem” by Lara Marie De Leon

Layout by: Cristian Tulisana

Published by: Aprilyn Sado

Date Published: January 29, 2025

Time Published: 2:47 PM

Category: Prose

Subject: The act of living in the now.

“Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.”

We waste so much of our lives, of ourselves, waiting—and as if we were promised endless of it, we continue to wait for the right moment, for tomorrow.

But this is how the poem goes: “This same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be dying.” The same graceful bloom we see now, so wonderfully alive, may wilt before us—neglected, leaving only a memory of its radiance vividly engraved in our minds. And so it is with our lives.

𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘱𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘮.

Seize the day. The poets have urged us countless times, in their many pieces of poetry. Yet, we hesitate, drunk in our illusions, seeing time through kaleidoscope glasses—never quite as what it truly is.

The moment to act, to live, is now. Not next week, not in some distant future we imagine will always be there waiting for us, but now. In the same breath we are taking. We’re only mortals—we cannot predict what tomorrow may bring, nor can we place bets that it will even be. Though it’s a hard pill to swallow, all we truly have is today.

The clock never stops ticking. The carousel never stops turning; we can never get off. And with them, so too do the chances we are given. Some doors close for eternity.

So let us gather these rosebuds, appreciate the beauty in every passing second, and feel the warm breeze while we can. Choose the imperfect, the now. Let us stop giving our fate up to the stars, waiting for the right moment. For the gift that is our today, though fragile and unpredictable, is more precious than any dream of tomorrow. It is in the here and now that we can be something, the only moment we are able to love, explore, and experience life in all its fullness.

Let every petal be a glaring reminder of our mortality, a call to live vibrantly, to chase after all our hopes, to connect with the people around us, and just feel. To seize the day is to accept the uncertainty of life and to live boldly in spite of it. For though the flower may die, the life we are living today will embroider a mark far more lasting than any flower’s bloom.

So, gather your rosebuds while you may, and make much of your time. For time, as Herrick warns us, is fleeting—and it waits for no one.

REFERENCE:

[1] Academy of American Poets. (2017). To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time. Poets.org. https://poets.org/poem/virgins-make-much-time