Copyright © 2009 Ernest Bloom.
When they all are so young again
Their bodies lanky and thin and
Long-drawn like lizards
They wrap them together and gyrate
In space travel music for their
Own generation
We break bottles of champagne over
A new hull design
Welcome to the Heavens, children,
And whatsoever promising new
Edens you may find
Ah, that is a very heartening and high-spirited optimistic view-point of the perpetual space race for salvation with, perhaps, just a smallest tinge of cynicism or irony. The concept of the elderly passing on the ruling rod to the younger ones for them to devise newer, better, greater means of exploration is quite refreshing and almost rings false. The generation gap is still, I think, a little of a nuisance.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the metaphor of 'new hull design' because it's so versatile. It can mean exploration in general, science, the spiritual journey, the arts etc. Just look at this beauty- a few lines and so much of a message. Poetry never ceases to amaze me in its ludicrously competent conceit and elegant compression.
i did not intend any cynicism; our best hope as a species is always to be found in young adults, say, early 20s to mid-30s, and although it's not generally apparent to those of that age, when you have the perspective of an additional decade or so you see that those young adults almost all look skinny and drawn-out like lizards. anyway yes i was talking about the next young generation, but also about all young generations, and the opening few lines refer to watching a few of those old, old pink floyd videos when the boys were still young lizards and the world was wide open before them.
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