THE PAST, EXPLAINED
What is the past?
A vast speckled darkness
Where points of light beckon,
Or cry, stay away!
What is the past?
Is it alive, its breath
The fricatives of our dreams?
Or is it dead,
A chamber filled with the bones
And artifacts of faded
Hopes and ambitions?
Is the past a funhouse mirror,
Where space is warped the way
Einstein said it would be?
We should have believed him,
Instead of mistaking sycophancy
For wisdom, bobbing our heads
To the tunes of liars and despots.
The past is the guest
who has overstayed their welcome.
The past is an invasive plant,
Growing where it isn’t wanted,
Impossible to eradicate.
The past is a child,
Who never stops seeking attention.
The past is everywhere, yet hidden,
By the clouds of illusion,
That allow us to say,
I was there,
I did that,
I am who I think I am
Even if I may be
badly mistaken.
— Dennis Hathaway 6/26/2021