The Future is Striding Faster

When the D Line extension opened last week, I couldn't but think back to Rabbi Hollander’s explorations of futurism in the newsletter, specifically the Italian futurism idea of collapsing simultaneous futures. Well this is what was wisping through the back of my mind at 3 AM, which is when I normally write poetry.

The Future is striding faster

The future is striding faster
More confident in itself than ever before
The future is a spirit 
Of cooperation
And joy
Watch! It wrestles the 20th century, round after round
Sometimes it is defeated, but it never gives in
The future is inevitable
How much longer, O God?

I sense the light of the Messiah
The fragrant oil drips from his head
He stands in the corner 
Of the train station
Watching strangers become friends
Ready to board, from Beverly Hills
To Skid Row
I see him, striding into the operator’s seat

Shards of broken glass lace the sidewalk
Who was broken into tonight?
Who was hurt? Who cried?
Who refused to cry, and hurts something
Or someone else?
The future walks past, sighing gently
How much longer, O God?

I hear the voice of the Messiah
The son of David, sweetly singing
He stands on Hollywood Boulevard
Doing his part to ward away the evil spirits
Preaching into a loudspeaker, 
So that his words settle into the hearts
Of the lost and the wandering

Bubbling and murmuring
I hear the shouting
Another parade, another celebration
Elation turns to trust
Trust turns to holding
Hold me tight, says the future
And I will hold you
I am you holding you
I wrestle the past
When the past is defeated
I hold him tight
The past is you
The future is you