One Second Per Second: The Speed of The Light

[Scott]

I dedicate this one to anyone who has lost someone, especially a child.

Though death, like birth, is mostly an illusion, the pain it leaves behind for the living is not. For those still dreaming, the dream carries on.

For that reason, I hope this also helps my own kids when they lose their father, both to find comfort, and hopefully to find me, meaning the real me, and know that I could never leave them, and that despite the illusions of time and space, even a million years or a billion miles is nothing.





One Second Per Second: The Speed of The Light


I'd glad give my life
If it would save one soul

But you can't save a soul
other than your own

I'd rip out my beating heart
and hold it in my pale hand
drop to my knees
and plead
If it would be worth a damn
Just one god damn thing

But you can't trade flesh for spirit
You can't change a choice
What's done is done
And even the future is set in stone
And we are just living to understand
why

We run from the question
with comfort and drink
And there's at least the taint of escapism
In every single little thing
But you can't escape the inescapable
And even in the darkest of nights
The question starts to creep
Like a twinkle in the eye of a corpse
We're just living to understand
Why

Why do children have to die
Why do lions get to eat
Why does pain hurt so bad
Why does death seem so final
Why do we feel so small
Why is the starry sky so vast
Why are there horizons we can't reach
Why are there goals we can't meet
Why do mosquitoes get to drink
Why does cancer get to live

No matter how much we speed it up
Or slow it down
My watch always ticks
at one second per second
My map always says
You are here
And I am
Always

No matter where or when I go
I've only ever been here
I've only ever been now

One second per second.

Image generated by AI. The prompt: "the speed of light"

the-speed-of-light.png (1.08 MiB) Viewed 874 times

[Scott]

Einstein may have said it better (and definitely more succinctly):

"A human being is a spatially and temporally limited piece of the whole, what we call the 'Universe'. He experiences himself and his feelings as separate from the rest, an optical illusion of his consciousness. The quest for liberation from this bondage is the only object of true religion. Not nurturing the illusion but only overcoming the illusion gives us the most attainable amount of inner peace."

- Albert Einstein, February 12th, 1950, in a condolence letter

[Surabhi Rani]

I like the ending of your poem. 'Why do children have to die Why do lions get to eat Why does pain hurt so bad' is a good expression! The work promotes radical thinking. I feel the need for the complete transformation of the spirit. I would call it a masterpiece work!

[Kajori Sheryl Paul]

This poem is profound. I agree that the pain lingers for those left behind. We all then turn to escapism. However, just like you wrote, "But you can't escape the inescapable"

Thank you for this.