THE BIG EMPTY

Sometimes the furnace burns low,

and the embers slumber like a pool

of dragon eyes, winking red.

I get lazy when the fuel is too far 

away to stoke, and I’m too tired to 

care.I have to believe there will 

always be enough time to scrape 

the ashes and start over.

I’ve thought that for a very long time.

A very long time.

Forever.

Time does what it does best, though,

and runs out. And when it does,

your eyes go empty. Like my father’s,

like Alice’s, like everyone’s who ever lived.

We know it’s true, time runs out; ends... 

becomes non-linear. It does no good 

to fret for your own dead body, that bag 

of dissolved chemicals in water. 

You won’t miss it.

Be careful, though, and don’t mistake

your imaginary malaise for a clock

that has lost its hands. Use your

bright eyes to look around for

one more apple to eat, another

mountain vista, and a plateful of

good love in a cozy cabin, curled up 

by a hearth full of dragon embers.

Copyright

Vol Lindsey

12/18/2022

Reviews

[Lorry]

I think we rarely think of not being here fleetingly and with a shrug, because we have existed from the start of our own existence and will exist until the end of ours too.
Every person that has ever lived has died, but we somehow brush over that in the hope of just another day, that will lead on to a repeat of that wish and not being here is as final as they come, so grab that cheeseburger with both hands, climb that mountain at 99 or skydive as a centurion....
But keep that pen handy just in case a real killer line comes before the end.
I want to go out quietly, looking at the setting sun, with a cool drink in my hand, to be found next morning with a smile on my face... Not kicking and screaming like my grandpa's last passenger's, as he slumped over the wheel 😊

[Vol]

I heard an in-depth discussion between some scholars a number of years ago... Their concept was that the consciousness that is the eternal us enters "non-linear time." From what I keep hearing about the conscious universe since then, I believe there must be some validity to their thinkinhg, and I am nicely reassured.

[Chris Shaw]

We are a long time dead. I have lost many family and friends and the clock’s hands stop for no one. There is always something new to experience. A new sunrise, a sunset, a walk by the ocean, talking to new people. Life is for living not pondering too much on what is the inevitable. Liked the read here Vol and where I meandered.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I get the same way...the fire burns and that dragon takes away loved ones.
Damn, this poem hit me...both parents gone, and my mother's name was Alice.
And no, I will not miss my body...might miss my mind a little...but then part of it is missing now.
j.

[Vol]

Jacob,,, Quantum physics seems to be saying that the Universe is conscious... I think from that notion, that every tiny bit to every complex system, everything tends toward absolute awareness, and our consciousness is eternal. It is not "matter," it is not "energy," it is "spirit." So there is nothing to die. ( I just don't want my physical body to hurt whenit quits functioning.)