ONCE AND NOW

it's 3:00 A.M.
time is in limbo,
bardo
I think of riding
my motorcycle along
a paved road in the
country one Sunday
morning

I think of howling
through a village at 4:00 A.M.
at 120 mph
in my forest green
Volvo
sports car
the village silent
as wind through
a field

I think of standing
in  the bow of
a ship bounding through
the luxurious large
30 foot waves of the
sunny Pacific

... after the typhon
not moving towards
the typhon
but cruising away

I think of the gorgeous
full-bodied woman
lowering herself
down on the large bulb
of the gear shift
at 90 mph
up highway 11
at 2:30 A.M.
gearing down 
for the vibrations
and the passion 


now time is in the
bardo
not moving towards
nor away
from 
anything

I no longer have
the motorcycle;
I no longer have
my house in the
country

the gorgeous woman
is no longer
with me

I no longer have
a ship to sail proudly
west into the setting
sun of the Pacific
Ocean

what we have
we lose

what once was
becomes now
in limbo
between the hours
I have nothing
but this
easy peace

no longer getting
and spending
acquiring and
defending...

what a relief
it is.





(C)2018 by W.G. Milne