The Place of the Future
“The future is no longer what it used to be” ( A. Eban )
They say the past is a familiar place
To which many are willing to testify,
But of the future they fear to speak,
For it is a strange and scary domain,
As no one has been there before
And perhaps there, more than anywhere else,
It is all empty, or bare land full of void,
A worthless place, just desolation,
Although all our hopes stream there,
Like all the waters gathered unto one place
By God’s command in the Book of Genesis,
Which He then called “Seas”,
Until “Earth” appeared
Thus becoming the place of “the beginning”,
The distance from which, all the way to us,
Is the value*, definite and unique,
Known as “Past”,
That also used to be called “Future” -
As long as it could last.
To which many are willing to testify,
But of the future they fear to speak,
For it is a strange and scary domain,
As no one has been there before
And perhaps there, more than anywhere else,
It is all empty, or bare land full of void,
A worthless place, just desolation,
Although all our hopes stream there,
Like all the waters gathered unto one place
By God’s command in the Book of Genesis,
Which He then called “Seas”,
Until “Earth” appeared
Thus becoming the place of “the beginning”,
The distance from which, all the way to us,
Is the value*, definite and unique,
Known as “Past”,
That also used to be called “Future” -
As long as it could last.
*As defined in mathematics:
“The absolute value of a number
is the distance of that number from the inception.“
“The absolute value of a number
is the distance of that number from the inception.“
Written by Moshe D. Shafrir-Stillman