A Momentary Lapse of Concern

A man
Stands at a deserted corner
Squinting at a flickering light
Just above the empty street-
Longing for the past
He has never seen.

A man
Lies on a frozen field
Staring at a glowing star
Through the dim twilight-
Longing for the present
He can never find.

A man
Sits on an empty bed
Gazing at a pale corner
Above the empty walls-
Longing for the future
He has already lost.

A boy
Runs through the cool sand
Dodging the icy waves
Snapping at his feet-
Living for the moment
He forever knows.

Sit, Think.

Sometimes I sit and think.
I think about Life. Death. Evil. Good.
I think how the path beneath my feet seems to slip by unnoticed.
An infinite treadmill of ever-changing speeds.
I think I am close to understanding,
But at the same time I drift away from the answer.
Sometimes I just sit and think, evading time and space.
Earthly possessions, humanly concerns...nothing.
Seconds, ticking. Minutes, slipping. Hours, fading.
Moments, disappearing, reappearing.
Receding into the faint yellow haze crawling over the dust towards the light.
Days escaping through accidental cracks in the door.
Years passing through the darkness,
Only to shine momentarily in the faint flickering starlight.
Off again, on again, off again.
And still these questions lay unanswered.
I ask these questions to the world. To myself. To everything and nothing.
But the answer never appears.
Maybe they cannot be answered. Maybe they are not meant to be answered.
Maybe the wavelengths are too weak, the medium too vast, to reach me.
From here the air seems empty, a vacuum of infinite dimensions.
I suppose I should wait patiently for a sign,
Listening intently for an answer.
But until one arrives,
I guess I've nothing more to do.
So I will just sit and think.