1432 - What is truth

Pontius Pilate once wondered what is truth
Well may he, but the answer is easy
Just like the soul’s a hole, like dreams of youth
Truth is evasive and illusory
What is, is, and is not; both equally
Is it a wave, is it a particle
Heisenberg only knew uncertainty
He’s like Socrates: the same principle
Philosophy agrees with science. Bull
And truth intertwine in straight lines of growth
In fields fertilised by technology
Weeds of selfish opinion that strangle
Crops of hopeful guesswork. To challenge both
Is to be burnt at stake or nailed up high

1416 - Against all odds

What are the odds, reader, that you read this?
What are the odds, reader, that you were born?
What are the odds against this universe?
What are the odds humans were ever formed?
And this earth being neither cold nor warm?
And all our ancestors, human and not
Procreating through drought, disaster, storm?
I think you will agree it’s quite a lot
Yet here we are. But do we give much thought
(Did we ever?) to the future abyss
Not our own death (that neither) but the dawn
Of new life long after our families rot?
What are the odds, reader, of that selfless
Devotion to others over our own?

1278 - Forever young

There is no soul, there is no afterlife
There’s only the central nervous system
And flesh and bone, and selfishness and strife
And politics and greed and religion
Desire to procreate daughter or son
Disguised as lust, which we can circumvent
By means of various contraception
Methods, though Catholics believe they’re sent
To hell if they do, but they’re not. Death’s meant
To improve, as opposed to stagnate, life
By means of gradual evolution
It’s possible that by intelligent
Science we may end up prolonging life
Indefinitely: selfish to the bone

1223 - Uncertainty

Deciding what to do is a problem
In life; a billion possibilities
But not all paths are passable, and when
You start out on one, sometimes there’s a freeze
And you get stuck halfway, among the trees
Or treacherous slopes, icy surfaces
And sheer isolation. So do you please
Yourself, which is the hardest path, or base
Your journey upon sensible advice?
Stay in, go out, look up, look down, suspend
Plans, scrap them, or amend? And which of these
Is the right, the most appropriate choice?
Just fighting on, and hoping, in the end
Is the only way any of us sees

1071 - Dreamslide

Another week at work, or maybe I’ll
Take at least one day off to get stuff done
Like websites, poetry, music - I’m miles
Behind with all of it… Though it’s real fun
Chatting to friends and family, there’s one
Person who is neglected, and that’s me!
You have to be selfish sometimes. I am
Quite selfish, but not quite enough, sadly
To achieve stuff. I wonder, could it be
Because of work and family, a while
Has gone by already; the years have gone
When opportunity was aplenty?
Still, I must be determined; I must still
Pursue the dream of getting something done!
Mon 10 Aug