The Timings of Their Changing

Time is ruling the world

Time doesn’t rule the world. The timing does—

Coordination, synchronization,

Aligning the most events that you can,

As tightly as you can. The creation,

Thereby, of more and more complex events—

Not everything happening all at once

But many things happening exactly

As scheduled to happen, as if at once,

Synchronized swimming, if what synchronized

Wasn’t only the swimmers but the waves,

Ideally light shimmering from the waves,

A mind-bogglingly ecstatic display.

That’s what atomic, quantum is for—

Not to rule but to serve your alignments.

And what is an alignment? Exactly

What, really, is simultaneity?

No one knows, but life likes it, always has.

Coordinating simultaneous

Change in sequences, chains of changes,

Is as good definition of life,

Of what distinguishes life from burning

And tumbling, spiraling out of control,

As anything. Timing rules the living,

And complexity scales with life’s timing.