Never, As Written

Bethany Ball puts it well.

The future is bleak but not

Written. The future isn’t,

Which is why it’s always bleak

And never written. Never

Stopped anyone from writing

About it, but let’s face it—

You get excited when dates

Foretold pass and the faintest

Hint of what’s now your new past

Was there in the old future.

Most of the time, though, what’s now

New past preoccupies you

So much you forget the old

And get back to predicting

The next. The funniest thing

Would be either if the world

Simply winked out all at once,

Or, so that there were people

Around to laugh, if one day

For no reason, no one was

Mortal or aging at all.

Oops, there go the verities;

All the rules have changed for good.

And even then, the future

Wouldn’t be yet, would be bleak,

Unwritten, as it isn’t.