And for a Time we Lived
And for a Time we Lived
like gods we said water & there
was water
we said light & there was light
so much light at any hour
photons harnessed & pressed
into service the water was pure
except in certain neighborhoods
near the old factories & mines
the air was almost pure
except in certain neighborhoods
where it was poison we wanted
for nothing we had work
& we had play—amazing play—
actual plays on a grand scale
before town-sized crowds there was
fresh fruit out-of-season
& sustainably-caught fish our wish
was Siri’s command
supply met demand so far as we knew
& if we lacked bread or wine
we were borne for more in cars
that kept our feet
from touching the ground borne
so fast it felt like flying
& there was actual flying then too
there was always more more
in profusion there was yes confusion
& general alarm
the usual armies clashing by night wildfires
derechos earthquakes wars cops
killing young black & brown men in the streets
& occasional curfews that taught us
to rise & retire with the light we had bread
& circuses streaming endless new episodes
we had devices for everything electric combs
& toothbrushes
robot vacuums GPS laptop panopticons
from which we viewed the world
at a great remove aside from all that
birches silvered by moonlight
cherry blooms like a wedding live oak & owls
blinking on telephone poles
our screens were a window & also a barrier
& shield terror was distant
& noiseless unless the sound was turned on
commerce & culture & chaos rolled
like a benevolent tsunami across & through
our mostly green lands
we met in large groups then & often
touching each other’s faces & hands
Rebecca Foust’s seventh book of poetry, ONLY, is forthcoming from Four Way Books in 2022, and new poems are or will be in Bracken, The Hudson Review, Narrative, New Letters, Nostos, and Ploughshares. Recognitions include the 2020 Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry judged by Kaveh Akbar, the CP Cavafy and James Hearst poetry prizes, a Marin Poet Laureateship, and fellowships from The Frost Place, Hedgebrook, MacDowell, and Sewanee.