The Chazinator is working a shift at the dVerse Poets Pub this afternoon, and he’s gone all scientific on us; he calls it Tripping the Cosmos. Nothing wrong with that I suppose, but what is science these days, other than somewhat bumbling, stumbling and altered? And, for that matter (no pun intended), what is poetry? In his attempt to get across to us his desires for this poetically scientific experiment, Charles spent considerable time and words explaining things. Me, not being one with a lengthy attention span, heard naught but a steady, low, humming noise, and an imagined voice, which sounded not unlike Charlie Brown’s teacher. Until, that is, I came upon this next to last sentence: engage in poetic conflict with the scientific world-view. “BATTLE!” I shouted, causing the old dog to hurry out of the room! At once, my hands pounced upon and fairly flew across the keyboard of my trusty laptop, and the following poem–I use the term loosely–was created!
Our Galaxy Grand!
I find myself watching people
Hurrying here to there
How many, I wonder
Are bustling about
At any given time
Night and day; 24/7
A world that never stops
Cars zipping down the roads and freeways
Going who knows where
A constant rushing
Hurry through this thing
Then rush to the next place and thing
I wonder, sometimes aloud
How we came to be this way
Did we evolve into this
A mass of constant movement
Orchestrated chaos
With no rhyme or reason
A massive uncoordinated movement
Of machine and flesh
And words polluting the air
Pursuing dollars and things
Joy not found in thing, nor word
Hectic lives, so mundane
No purpose; no goals
Acting at existing
Dead… to reason or rhyme
Or…
Is it possible we exist simply
As some galactic child’s plaything
A glass cage our world
An incandescent bulb our sun
Time warped to fit a universe
Much larger than our understanding
And what if…
From the black hole
At the far end of the spacious hallway
Of our galaxy grand
A booming voice should command
Turn out that light!
And go to bed!
Copyright © 2012 C. Mashburn
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Marbles In My Pocket ~ The Official Blog of Charles L. Mashburn ~ Poems, Short Stories, and random thoughts from the author of "Be Still... and know that I am God" 
Paula Tohline Calhoun said
I like this Charles! I doubt seriously if I will even attempt to work on this challenge, mainly because I would end up being wordier than The Chazinator’s original post! Don’t need any more snoring in this noise-polluted universe!
Good job with this one! I’m impressed as always.
Paula
charlesmashburn said
Thanks, Pauline! I was of the same mind as you when I first looked at this, but, gave it the old high school try!
Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate the comment!
terri0729 said
Ha! good one Charlie!! Made me envision the Mount of Olympus and the god’s playing with chess pieces or some such thing! Well done. blessings, Terri
charlesmashburn said
Thanks, Terri. I have a poem somewhere in this mess that’s called, “Imagine”, and it’s kind of along the same lines as this one. There’s a state park in Texas called Enchanted Rock, and it’s this big domed rock that snaps and pops when the tempreatures vary. I imagined looking through one of the cracks in it and seeing an alternate universe. Am I rambling? Why, yes, yes I am rambling. Buh bye!
terri0729 said
LOL! You know me, Charlie, I was following right along with you 🙂 We have our days, don’t we? ha-ha
charlesmashburn said
I’m havin a great day!
brian miller said
haha i bet he just might say that…smiles…or take a break, relax, ponder the ant…let me worry about a few things…dont kill yourself in your busy-ness…what is it really accomplishing…
charlesmashburn said
That’s what I’m talkin bout, Brian!
Thanks fro stopping by! I love the comment!
Daydreamertoo said
I read one of those old sci fi magazine comic story books as a child and in it one of the stories posed the question: ‘What if what we think of as endless (the universe) and what we think of a huge (the planets ) are really so small, that we are all simply in someone’s pocket, rattling around, back and forth like marbles would bang and crash. I found it so intriguing, and have always been so fascinated by the whole thing.
Great write in the spirit of the prompt Charles.
charlesmashburn said
I’ve thought about these types of scenarios all my life. Always wondered if we were like some giant kids ant farm, and what if he moved and left us in the backyard. Or put us in a box and he got killed and nobody ever opened the box; stuff like that.
Thanks for the visit and great comment, Daydreamer!
wolfsrosebud said
LOL… yes but man made light that shines throughtout the night. I think it’s Edison’s fault
charlesmashburn said
Thankfully, somebody invented the switch!
Thanks for the visit and comment!
Anna Montgomery said
‘I knew you were gonna say that.’ 😛 Fun take on the prompt and I agree with Brian, maybe we should leave some things to that which is greater than ourselves.
charlesmashburn said
ah’ight den. If y’all are gonna team up on me, we’ll do it your way.
Thanks for stopping by, Anna! I apreciate the visit and comment!
hedgewitch said
Why we would ignore it until it threatened to ground us, of course–like maybe by melting the polar ice caps and seeing how long we can tread water? Loved it Charles.
charlesmashburn said
Oh, yeah. Like that. Ah’ight den.
Thanks for the visit and comment!
leahJlynn said
I like watching people too and seeing how the world eve oles and wonder what will become vintage and what won’t . It great to watch, isn’t ? good job
charlesmashburn said
It is fun to watch; sometimes amusing, other times quite disturbing.
Thanks for the visit and comment!
Chazinator said
I just hope that voice doesn’t sound too soon! Then again, with Pascal’s wager it will mean either lights out for good or lights illuminating a reality that will beggar this one that you so rightly take to task for its empty ways. Hopefully, the historical/literary drone of my prompt did not upset your awareness of the eternal mysteries! I do believe there are some things that science can’t explain. 🙂
charlesmashburn said
I’m okay with it no matter which way it goes. And, no, your prompt didn’t bother me at all; I had some fun with it, and gettin a kick out of some of the other entries.
Thanks for the visit and comment, Charles. I appreciate it!
Semaphore said
A fun read! What it brought to mind was a chapter out of something like “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. Nice!
charlesmashburn said
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for the visit and comment!
Patti said
I like this a lot. I’ve had those very thoughts myself. Here’s another one to ponder before sleep. What if we are nothing but a disease plaguing some larger being, our wars causing inflamation, our hurry-scurring just an itchy rash. And (gasp!) what if they find a cure?
Thanks for your visit and comment.
charlesmashburn said
I never thought of that one, Patti! That is good (in a bad way?).
Thanks for the visit and comment!
zongrik said
A mass of constant movement
A massive uncoordinated movement
that’s all entropy!!
charlesmashburn said
Why, yes, yes it is. (I had to look up the word “entropy” before I could say that.)
Thanks for the visit and comment, Zongrik!
Hema said
That is really wonderful. Very vivid. I could picturise the glass cage and the incandescent lamp and the thundering voice ordering us! Lovely!
charlesmashburn said
Thank you very much, Hema! I’m so glad youenjoyed it.
Thanks for the wonderful comment!
David King said
I’ve had the same thoughts as Daydreamertoo, though I can’t remember where they came from. Conjectures such as these I find fascinating – as I did your poem. A great read.
charlesmashburn said
Thank you very much, David! Your visit and comment is very much appreciated!
claudia said
smiles…so many questions we have no answer…and i wonder if in all our high tech world, we have forgotten how to really live…good thoughts in this..conveyed with an easy pen
charlesmashburn said
I think the answer to your wondering, is a very firm, “YES!” I have in mind an article I will write and post today, dealing with that very subject. I will call it Man vs. Machine, if you care to keep an eye out for it.
Thanks for the visit and great comment!
aprille said
Somebody somewhere said: God created the world out of boredom.
Are we merely playthings of the gods?
charlesmashburn said
I don’t think either of those things are true, but it would be scaary if they were!
Thanks for the visit and comment!
Marinela said
This is such a lovely write.
charlesmashburn said
Thank you very much! I’m glad you enjoyed it, and I appreciate the visit and lovely comment!
Sherry Mashburn said
Awesome take on a weighty subject . . . Loved the ending . . . Made me laugh out loud!
charlesmashburn said
I love to make you laugh!