TIME ON A ROCKET
READ AT POETS CORNER MA for May 31, 2021 *
H. W. Bryce
As usual, I have got left behind
As technology has pushed forward
In leaps and bounds, by which I
Take it, bounds are longer than
Leaps.
Time is just walkin’ past me.
I am getting older and slower,
He is getting younger and faster.
Don’t know what his hurry is,
But he refuses to wait for me.
And I’m sitting on an airline
At the rear of row on row
Of similar seats, all filled
By similar travellers with
Similar needs and wants and fears.
And now we are floating in space,
Along with Earth’s own satelite debris
And useless shit that once made
Humans comfortable, down there,
With its once sparkling oceans and seas
And once pure rivers now filled
With dead fish and plastics…
And now we are headed for Mars,
That once mysterious bald planet
Recently seconded as a desert refuge
For us failed humans, who hadn’t
The wit to respect the fragility of home!
Space debris streaks by like close-up
Shooting stars that threaten to annihilate
Our inconsequential little ship. So
Magnificent they were, as seen from
Mother Earth, but startlingly frightening
Six metres from your window by your
Satellite seat as they rocket along,
Assembling like a vindictive,
Revengeful Army of Destruction.
Yes, time is just walkin’ past me as I sit
Shedding my memories as it speeds ahead,
Burning my history, erasing me from
My own relevance, even as I spit spiteful
Objections…
The rocket burns out
Pfft! There goes all memory
of me…and my kind…
Ah! But…
Must not while away my day
Must achieve something today
Must become part of the fray
Fighting for Peace this day
—while reading Rattle chapbook Adjusting the Light by Tom. C. Humley, of 2020
