And the Time Is: Poems, 1958-2013

A Time of No Shadows

162 A Time of No Shadows Immortality? Too general a concept. Some say it’s never-ending time, which means it’s long on myth and short on meaning. Some say it’s never to be known until it’s ours. Some say, some say . . . I stand with those who think it could be quick as any instant going on and on and on within itself like poetry or music or a kiss. That comes as close as anything to God’s, “I am Who am.” No past. No memory. No future but the time at hand that’s passing even as it’s born . . . Once I was driving due southeast through Pennsylvania. Highways were broad and dangerous and everyone’s. As I ran out of Pennsylvania, farm by farm, I noticed border signs that welcomed me to Maryland where Rand McNally said that Maryland began. I knew the earth was still the earth in Maryland or Pennsylvania. 163 I knew I stayed the same, border or no border . . . From here into hereafter could be just like that—our selfsame selves translated instantly from state to state to God alone knows what. . . . That’s immortality. ...