The Lie of After

Truth is, there is no "after". Time, and any measure or adjunct or by-product, is man-made. The concept, the instruments by which we calculate, all of it. Slaves, sheep, lemmings to a fallible - and if man is anything, fallible and affable would be the very definition - ideology. And we've bought it, hook, line and sinker. Not only have we bought it, we relish in it. The thought of After, as it relates to a measure of time, is, well, it's bullshit.

What happens after you almost kill a man after he pulls a knife on you in some ass-crack bar where the smoke lingers like forgotten cobwebs in the corners of the high ceilings and everyone smells of despair and life gone stale as their beer? Nothing. Everything. After is a tragic concept. That angry, overly lubricated, twelve-toothed man is still holding that knife. He's still coming at you, still crying at you to let him up. He can't breathe. He's turning a sunset violet. He's sorry. So, so sorry. You? You're still howling, growling, primal. Vengeance is your right hand. Your body is the factory of reactionary justice and you are open for business. And brother, business is booming. Those things never go away. There is no after. There is only deciding how much you can live with forever and ever, Ms. Jackson. Amen.

Time is not linear. Time is a dimension, a vapor, a mish-mash of particulate matter that lights up the horizon at twilight. Time has no origin or destination, no X, Y, or Z axis. Time only is. Much like energy, time is not created or destroyed, time simply changes forms - moving on. Downstream. 

So, what happens After?

Nothing. There is no After. It goes on and on and on. Until we die.

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. And then it keeps going. Time don't give a shit about you.

So, pass the bottle, can I have a light(?) and laugh, cry, fuck, fight, create and destroy. Inhale, exhale. Make war, cry for peace, save the rain forest and fire up the chainsaw.

It's all now.

It's all yours.

If'n you can abide it.

Comments

[Palinode]

I just can't abide it. Time, that is.

[Bell]

I always enjoy reading other people's perceptions of time and how they conceptualize it. Another that I've heard is that there is no "now," for as soon as it comes it is gone.

[fridita (just a grrl)]

This is fantastic...

[Skye]

Navajo time works for me. So does this.

[Kevin (Always Home and Uncool)]

The problem with after is that it always turns into before. It never ends.

[Mr Lady]

No comment I leave could be as good as Kevin's.

Excellent as always, Charlie.

[EarnestGirl]

powerful, purposeful writing.

time don't give a shit about you...

yeah.

made me remember the teenage moment when I put that together. it is like looking up into the impossible layers of stars for so long that nothing makes sense anymore. not even yourself.

really just wanted to say thanks. & well done.