“Tranquility” by Damon Shute is a poem about the time that passes us. Time rules over everything and Shute talks about how powerful it is. We as a generation cannot fathom the sheer force of time itself. Shute simply describes the notion of his subject, yet readers are left feeling awed. He writes of how time brings “uncertainty and confusion to our feeble minds.” Humans have always been fascinated by time. It’s such a simple matter, yet so complex when we delve into how it can affect us.

I find this piece to be really well written. It is such a compact poem, yet I have so many questions when I’m done reading it. I always overlook time as something that just ticks by. However, Shute raises the point that there is a vast unknown of time out there. We don’t truly understand it and that’s what makes his poem so intriguing.