Ray Bradbury seems to be a writer whose brilliance shines through quite unpredictably - like an unannounced flash of lightning which burns a likeness of his nocturnal mindscape into the reader's brain, leaving a lingering after-image which is not altogether unpleasant.
Well, judge for yourself, this is from Frost and Fire - a short story about a human(oid) race living on an unfriendly planet where 'normal' lifespan is reduced to 8 days - with an accelerated aging process which plants a paralysing fear of mortality in everyone from the moment they are born - knowing that their days are numbered irrevocably.
'Birth was as quick as a knife
Childhood was over in a flash
Adolescence was a sheet of lightning
Manhood was a dream
Maturity a myth
Old age an inescapably quick reality
Death a swift certainty'
Why then, I wonder, does this description of an 8-day lifespan feel so much like my own, at least as far as I have lived and what I expect from the rest?
As I read the struggle of that far away race to gain an extra day of life and to find answers for a 'normal' life span, I felt suffocated by my guilt - for wasting the time I have.
Now that is the sign of a great writer, when his words from a different time zone, frozen on paper, makes me feel a certain frantic desperation for all the things I have not yet done ...
“In your light I learn how to love.
In your beauty, how to make poems.
You dance inside my chest
where no-one sees you, but
sometimes I do, and
that sight becomes this art.”
― Rumi
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Peptic verse 2 (hope nix)
so what happens then?
a new job
a new car
goodbye old life
the only thing certain is uncertainty
a new job
a new car
goodbye old life
the only thing certain is uncertainty
Peptic Verse (a rag man)
As I drive up the motorway to work this weekend while
my friends - who I dearly love and yet rarely meet - are
scattered amongst the bedsheets like random
dream wisps, I think of the road I have travelled
in this foreign land miles away from the warmth of home
At 24, I came here chomping at the bit,
eager to prove my worth,
let the whole world know:
I HAVE ARRIVED
(thank you all for waiting)
Aound me was a glowing sphere of youth and opportunity
anchored on ME by invisible cables, drawing upon
my sheer brilliance at it's centre for it's existence
I never veered from the fast lane
I dipped my lights for no one
At 26, I was sure of what I knew and I was sure
of what they knew, I was sure that what I knew
was more than what they knew and I was sure
that they knew they needed to know what I knew
My right foot stayed firmly on the pedal
I stopped not for amber
At 28, I saw chinks in my armour,
pointed out by others and at times by myself,
during the endless nights of insecurity when
I probed and prodded for weaknesses
The cars around me sped past while
my gaze fell frequently upon the fuel gauge
At 30 denial helped, although I had to change (reluctantly)
my drop down menu selections for the first time
My faithful ride looked weatherworn
(tiredness is infectious)
And yet maybe
just maybe...
all it needs is a new angle
a fresh
perspective
(peptic verse for some)
my friends - who I dearly love and yet rarely meet - are
scattered amongst the bedsheets like random
dream wisps, I think of the road I have travelled
in this foreign land miles away from the warmth of home
At 24, I came here chomping at the bit,
eager to prove my worth,
let the whole world know:
I HAVE ARRIVED
(thank you all for waiting)
Aound me was a glowing sphere of youth and opportunity
anchored on ME by invisible cables, drawing upon
my sheer brilliance at it's centre for it's existence
I never veered from the fast lane
I dipped my lights for no one
At 26, I was sure of what I knew and I was sure
of what they knew, I was sure that what I knew
was more than what they knew and I was sure
that they knew they needed to know what I knew
My right foot stayed firmly on the pedal
I stopped not for amber
At 28, I saw chinks in my armour,
pointed out by others and at times by myself,
during the endless nights of insecurity when
I probed and prodded for weaknesses
The cars around me sped past while
my gaze fell frequently upon the fuel gauge
At 30 denial helped, although I had to change (reluctantly)
my drop down menu selections for the first time
My faithful ride looked weatherworn
(tiredness is infectious)
And yet maybe
just maybe...
all it needs is a new angle
a fresh
perspective
(peptic verse for some)
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