What if I were lost for an instant or two,
\nIn the wink of an electron’s eye
\nSince we are wiggly bits of energy
\nThat leap in and out of quantum lives
\nAs physics tells us we all must be,
\nWould anyone notice? Would I even know?<\/p>\n
What if I were lost for a minute or two,
\nIn the time it takes to compose
\nA coherent thought, as often happens
\nWhen I’m lost to the world
\nIn the midst of a meeting or
\nThrough a sudden signal drop
\nWould anyone there or anywhere
\nNotice or even care?<\/p>\n
What if I were lost for an hour or two,
\nIn the time it takes to sketch
\nA gamin playing on the river quay,
\nOr in parties where I’d rather sneak
\nTo the library for a book
\nAnd later with methodical haste
\nBeat deadlines with minutes to spare
\nWould anyone here or anywhere
\nComplain or notice or even care?<\/p>\n
What if I were lost for a day or two,
\nIn the time it takes to stock on wood,
\nAs happens in a hermit’s hut,
\nFor a bonfire night to contemplate
\nThe zen of nothingness.
\nWould anyone here or anywhere
\nWorry, complain, notice, or even care?<\/p>\n
What if I were lost for a month or two,
\nIn the time it takes to build a village well
\nOr to watch the grain in the field turn gold
\nOr to memorize my tribe’s ancestral names
\nWould anyone here or anywhere
\nSearch, worry, complain, notice, or even care?<\/p>\n
What if I were lost for a year or two,
\nIn the time it takes to cross a continent
\nAnd to write a book in manuscript
\nAnd to dream of settling down for good
\nWould anyone here or anywhere
\nTrace my route or join my schemes,
\nOr worry, complain, notice, or even care?<\/p>\n
What if I were lost for an eternity,
\nAs I remind myself
\nWe all are meant to be
\nBut if by fate I go before you do,
\nWould you, or anyone here or anywhere,
\nRecall that once my breath was warm?
\nAnd would you know the voice that calls
\nWhen I greet you from the other side?<\/p>\n
January 16, 2007<\/p>\n
What if I were lost for an instant or two, In the wink of an electron’s eye Since we are wiggly bits of energy That leap in and out of quantum lives As physics tells us we all must be, Would anyone notice? Would I even know?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,8,131],"tags":[184,183],"class_list":["post-805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-literature","category-personal","category-travel-geography","tag-dreams","tag-non-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iraia.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iraia.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iraia.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iraia.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iraia.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/iraia.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1951,"href":"https:\/\/iraia.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805\/revisions\/1951"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iraia.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iraia.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iraia.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iraia.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}