Did my life have purpose, make a difference, was I real…
Original DDE™ art: “Lost In Time” — by: rob kistner © 4/5/26
—-<§>—-
he runs
he runs
he knows not why—
but still
he runs
he feels
not real—
let this not be but a dream
a brushstroke loosed
from the painter’s hand
does this rain
pass through him
as if he is liquid
the clock
he has always chased—
is it dissolving—
not breaking
…but fading
let me not fall loose of time
does he no longer
catch light
to hold a form
in space and time
time’s becoming light
light’s becoming breath—
and he runs
do not let me disappear
he moves
not forward
but into vapor
each step
less weight
each splash
a soft erasure
unaware he is not running—
he is becoming—
something unbound—
‘tween before and after
a pulse
without measure
hear me
this all cannot come to naught
not a shimmer
between seconds—
where nothing is changed…
and nothing is real…
but rather…
…an expansive element
of time—
an eternal
evolving energy
always then…
always now…
always ever…
—hear me
<~>
rob kistner © 4/5/26
The art you designed seamlessly melts into the poem’s imagery, Rob, in the flight in time, in space. I love your use of the imperative voice to add an urgency, an expressive force of feeling, reorganizing time around him. A surreal, glorious piece of writing.
Thank you so much Dora, thank you for clearly hearing my voice… 🙂
This, to me, carries a message for us aging ones. Well….we’re all aging…but you know what I mean. The reflection of running….or standing still within time…of time disappearing…a pulse without measure. My favorite lines:
“brushstroke loosed
from the painter’s hand”
Is that what we are? When looking at the generations before us and those in line now and those that will come…perhaps so.
It’s an ever changing, never ending mural — that’s how it feels to me Lil. 🙂
i DEFINITELY feel all that running in my bones…
everyday is a new rush!
Loved the space you created in this poem! And Inception is one of my faves!
Thank you Cara, very much friend! Love inception as well — excellent flik… 🙂
such a mystical experience i have often stopped and looked at my surroundings, and wonder how i got here
As my life winds down Eric, the question for me is turning more toward why truly am I here? 😐
“he is becoming—
something unbound—
‘tween before and after”
I like your concluding imperative: hear me (no matter no matter.)
I figured pull no punches Lisa — right to the point… 🙂
On the far side of this there’s perpetual Om, tuning up with the Ancient. Things for a poet to look forward to!
I think I’m starting to sense what you mean, and what meant by Om. In the poem, “he is not running—he is becoming” is me feeling that underlying something—the energy that’s always there. But it’s also confusing, even a little frightening. I didn’t grow up with those ideas, so coming to them has taken much of my life, still feels ill fitting. That’s what the “becoming” is for me.