When I Was Your Age (Best of “Hubris”)

Speculative Friction

By Claire Bateman

“. . . there used to be something between units of information that was not itself information this substance was so exquisite so fine-spun that we were altogether oblivious to its presence . . .”—By Claire Bateman

GREENVILLE South Carolina—(Weekly Hubris)—December 19, 2016—

when I was your age

there used to be something between units of information that was not itself information this substance was so exquisite so fine-spun that we were altogether oblivious to its presence it possessed inexplicable powers it could part to let a thought pass through and then close behind it without making the sheerest sound it transported millions of glances and gazes without entanglement there is no doubt that this era which lasted throughout most of history was the most wondrous of times now when we are lonely as we are always lonely it’s because we miss the free space even those of us who were born after it was already gone a few people claim we can bring it back by getting rid of a whole lot of information but of course there’s no place to send the information to others say the space must originally have come from somewhere so all we have to do is go get more of it even if we have to destroy whatever country claims it as their own still others hope that whatever it is that we’re inside of the galaxy the universe reality itself is imperceptibly expanding so that the space will at some point naturally spring up everywhere taking up the slack of course I don’t know if any of this is possible and I don’t know if even once during all those years someone might have noticed it and treated it gently or at least respectfully looking into it instead of only at it or away

Note: An earlier version of this poem appeared in Mudlark No. 44 (2011): http://www.unf.edu/mudlark/mudlark44/bateman_11.html

The photograph used to illustrate this poem derives from http://onelittleamericankiwi.blogspot.com/2011/05/flying-kiwi-solo-expedition-walk-with.html

To order copies of Claire Bateman’s books Scape or Coronolgy from Amazon, click on the book covers below.