Some People

Strange planet and strange people on it.

They yield to time, but they don't want to recognize time.

They have their ways of expressing resistance.

They make pictures such as this:

Nothing in particular at first glance.

One can see water,

one river bank,

a narrow boat strenuously moving upstream.

One can see a bridge over the water

and people on the bridge.

People are clearly picking up the pace,

as rain starts whipping down from a dark cloud.

The point is, nothing happens further.

The cloud changes neither shape nor color.

The rain neither stops nor picks up.

The boat moves without moving.

The people on the bridge run

precisely where they ran before.

It is hard to get by without a commentary:

This is not an innocent picture.

Time was stopped here,

its laws no longer consulted.

It was denied impact on the developing events,

disregarded and dishonored.

Thanks to a rebel,

one Hiroshige Utagava

(a being who, by the way,

passed away, as is proper, long ago)

time stumbled and fell.

Perhaps it is only a prank without much meaning,

a whim on the scale of just a few galaxies,

but in any case

let's add what happens next:

Here it is considered in good taste

to hold this painting in high esteem,

to praise it and be greatly moved by it for generations.

For some, even this is not enough.

They hear the patter of rain,

feel the chill of raindrops on necks and shoulders,

they look at the bridge and people

as if they saw themselves there, in that never ending race

along the endless road, to be traveled for eternity

and they have the audacity to believe

that it is real.