Up Cycled

We will never be gone for good.

Somewhere on the edge of time,

standing over that endless void,

that dark foreboding precipice of space,

I am on tip toe,

smooth mirror glass under the soles of my worn feet

reflecting the billion stars all around me

as I try to find balance.

I am as high above the earth

as is humanly possible,

exposed to the biting solar winds

whose reckless tongues whip at my naked flesh.

Here, I teeter on the brink of extinction.

But although my skin and bone

will return to ash,

as predicted in the scriptures,

I am to be recycled.

Conscious thought and

self awareness will be stripped

from my carcass

as the quarks,  

those fundamental constituents of the matter

that is me, are sown

into the very fabric of the future.

 

16/07/20

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

I do agree John.
"But although my skin and bone
will return to ash,
as predicted in the scriptures,
I am to be recycled."
I liked the logic of the worlds above. I hope I did some good karma this life. Thank you for sharing the amazing poetry.
Coyote

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thanks Coyote John

[Coyote Poetry]

You are welcome John.

[MomzillaNC]

Intriguing imagery and philosophical take on the nature of existence

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thank you Mom!

[MomzillaNC]

You're welcome

[Beccy]

'We will never be gone for good.' Indeed.

What a wonderfully poetical description of the first law of thermodynamics those words are.

And I love the poem itself; which I found to be both spiritual and temporal in its message; (that balance you talk about.) And that even now, despite the increasingly rapid advance of science, the collective consciousness we share with this universe, still remains so much of a mystery to be unravelled.

Beccy.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Indeed. thank you Beccy

[Robert Trakofler]

I always thought of you as quarky... now I know why:) I refer to this very thing as our epitaphs. You know as time goes on and we explore the nuances of "write" and I say this also in terms of "life" (these words are interchangeable to an introspective mind) inevitably the chorus of those that lived before us and ergo "wrote" before us become clearer as we depict witness and scrawl an uncanny familiarity eventually some of us see this and realize we are not alone in our conductions in compose. Your imagery of this process of striping our mortal coils bare and our drip drops of of influence upon the waves of motion to the collective consciousness of humanity is poignantly expressed in this

[John Alexander McFadyen]

I think your review is more eloquent and descriptive than my poem Robert! Love it and many thank yous!

[barleygirl]

This is a great poem! I love the writing & the thinking behind it. I love the idea of using a mountaineer on the highest peak as a symbol, making a statement about being on the cusp of life & death. I just finished a 500-pg tome detailing the mountaineering history of the Bonington Boys (I've read many such books) & this book depicts the string of deaths in particular drama. Right at the end of the book, which I just put down, Boninton's last & only successful summit attempt on Everest at age 50, he's walking by the spots where he knows his friends' frozen bodies lie. So my mind was totally immersed in this life & death symbolism of which you write so beautifully. I love that the scope of your message, altho seemingly centered on the top of the planet, is meant to be applied widely to all things we do in life that might take us away from living, both while breathing and after breath stops. Great poem & timing couldn't be better. I haven't read you becuz I haven't seen you around & I'm forgetful, but I've been seeing your around & wanted to check out what you've been writing (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Hi Margie, Many thanks. Sounds a great story. It takes some strong mind and body to do what Bonington did! I had my page cloned again a while back and Demmers sent horrid stuff out and some folk blocked me as they thought it was really me so I took time out.

[wordman]

a place of solitude from life it`s self

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Indeed so Ron. Many thanks!

[wordman]

you`re welcome john,,where u been

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Ducking Demmers Ron.

[wordman]

screw that piece of s**t

[...]

It's can be also astronaut's views on our small planet and small troubles what we claim like great disasters. From view of death everything must to be see like trivial and worth it more then another last breath at space of endless galaxy . Or I just thought. Anyway very nice poetic observation.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

I agree. Many thanks.

[Pete]

a wonderfulyl penned journey into our mortality and the faith that there is something more that lies beyond this realm. a soulful, heavenly piece of eternal life. bravo! and amen! ... :)

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Indeed a place to seek when all else is fiction. Many thanks Pete.

[Markus Anthony]

Ths made me think of reincarnation, and I really don't have much thoughts about it, on a deep sense. I believe that we never go away for good, our memories live in the people who love us. I love how figurative your work is and it gave me liberty on how i place myself in the picture the speaker is trying to paint.

Somewhere on the edge of time
Standing over the endless void

Those lines for me were very strong, as I think I had the same feeling back then as a child and I was never really able to put them into words.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

I had them too as a child Markus and have them now. Indeed reincarnation is real but not in the religious sense, science has the upper hand. Many thanks.