Consciousness, Literature and the Arts

 

Archive

 

 

Volume 13 Number 1, April 2012

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A FRIEND FROM WAY BACK WHEN

 

running into a friend at an exhibition

a friend from way back

when we thought the revolution was near

and the work we did in art important

to its advent, was a reminder

of how fine it all turned out

 

we’re a lot older, of course

some, many, didn’t get this far

his hair is still red, mine is all grey

silver if you want to be cultured

he’s still gaunt, I’m more like a pear

but we both still believe

 

we’ve learnt that ideologies suck

that was clear from our omissions

human flourishing is still the goal

no one is a means to someone’s end

and there’s much work left to do

we could compare current cases

 

tacitly we were both aware

there’s no shortcut on this path

his youthful smile made me grateful

when he spoke of his efforts

on behalf of a colleague. I grew

nostalgic for the future

 

- P.K. Brask