My Trips Around the Sun

A poem about calendars and time

My Trips Around the Sun          
By Edwin W. Smith

Like everything in life
Calendars evolve and change
Reflective of culture and beliefs
Some of which we'd even find strange

The oldest calendar we know of
Dates back 10,000 years
Discovered in Aberdeenshire, Scotland
We were hunter-gatherers without fears

The Hijri or Islamic calendar
Has 12 months of 354 or 355 days
Repeats itself every 33 years
The creation of which, drew praise

To honor Julius Ceasar
We have the month of July
365 days and one every four years
It was a way to honor the guy

For most of the modern world,
It's calendar year 2022
And Ceasar's Julian calendar
Became the Gregorian calendar, we view

The liturgical calendar
For those of faith
Marks festivals and seasons
For believers to amaze

It's been seven decades and some
Since the day of my birth
That's how long I've been on this rock
Which we like to call planet earth

I have traveled some 42 billion miles
Based on my trips around our sun
And by the grace of God
Will have many more miles to come