THE GREAT SCHEME OF THINGS for Professor Lance Strate

The Great Scheme of Things



Words don't fail him but sometimes thoughts
Are suspended in his head like helium balloons
Full of ideas, hopes, wishes, prayers
They pop in out of the ethereal
Out of the indigo blue and with a certainty
That almost frightens.

The world speaks to him in quiet voices
Unknown tongues that are somehow familiar
Pleas rise up to his ears from the forests
The green grass calls his name
As though he were a friend
And the rivers pay respect.

This land he exists in, survives in, lives in
Is a precious commodity to his soul
Sometimes it's easy to forget
With all the clamoring chatter of technology
Just where you came from
Until clear reality slaps you in the face.

But in his dreams, he sees the new born mountains
Hears the eagle's cry and rushing waters
Feels the breath of morning wind
Wash his face as innocent
As his beloved baby boy
And he remembers what is real.

Education is a wonderful thing, he thinks
But what really matters
Is the freedom to think in the silence of peace
Turn off the world, turn off the phone, turn off the news
And bask in the wonder of a rainbow filled sky
To gather his family in the ark of his arms.

The world has come so far!
And has so far to go!
He wonders if he'll see it come to it's fruition
Whatever that may be.........
But in the meantime, there are plans to be made
Work to be done, bridges to build.

Friends to be met, songs to be sung
Poetry to be written and dreams to be dreamed
What really matters cannot be found within four walls
Inside a box of computer chips, cell phones, fibre optics
Virtual reality, nanotechnology, holograms and milligrams
In the great scheme of things, those things matter little.

He knows what matters
He sees it in his children's faces
The smile on the lips of his wife
The giggles, the fun, the yelp of the dog
The laughter that makes the sun
At the end of a rainy day.

Life is hard
But life
Can be beautiful
If you make it so
And he makes it so
He makes it so.

©By Voo
September 23, 07
For Professor Lance Strate
As promised.