Index 
There Was A Time
written six months after I was released from six months in jail and six in prison.
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There was a time, Ah, yes, there were many times, When light was upon the land. But now it seems night Has descended from the heavens And quenched the remaining light. Will day came again? Or is the final night a long descent To that eternal darkness, That deeper than deep abyss? Night's arrow stings my soul And seems to come from every Shade of fading dusk -- Family, community, justice Economics, politics, career -- All sneer as the arrow speeds From its bow and Plunges to my depths, laughing As it sinks ever deeper, Reminding me of good decisions gone awry, Of good intentions lost to Vicissitudes of careless time. or As Camus put it, "the benign indifference of the universe" |
So life for another ebb's away, Soon to pass into forgotten oblivion. But isn't it the living of life Rather than its eternal image That defines its import? Isn't it whether the "Self-perpetuating chemical reaction" Occurred at all in self-recognizing form The majesty to be had? Not the recognition of a name, After its material host Passes from the stage? Then, why do I write this, If not to attempt to cause My name to survive my death? It seems I seek immutability of my image Rather than pleasure of my reality, Or perhaps in addition to it. But the former does not matter, Except perhaps a gift to my progeny -- Biological and instructional. So will the darkness pass -- or Is it merely another illusion I can dispel By simply opening my eyes? |