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Instantly (Free verse) by Quarton
My favorite breakfast is oatmeal
with brown sugar and milk.
Real oatmeal that you boil
for a few minutes;
not the instant variety.
Actually, nothing is instant,
only faster or slower
like time and velocity.
In theory, at light speed,
time stands still--
infinite mass required but
you can't get there from here.
Instant is still no panacea,
even if you do save time.
You can't set it aside for later
or take it with you--
am I missing something?
People claim to be born again
at revival meetings,
instant salvation realized
but that doesn't seem fair.
A lifetime of thoughts and deeds
versus an instant of repentence.
I was always taught
you had to work at being saved.
I've never heard of a serial killer
being released from prison
just for saying, "I'm sorry."
Actions speak louder than beliefs
or spoken words.
I remember the Gulf War,
smart bombs and instant updates--
Stormin' Norman with a perpetual
scowl on hie face,
hourly news briefings complete
with charts and video tapes;
Iraq the real life version
of the mouse that roared.
Foreign reporters in Baghdad,
a bizarre scenario--instant relays
of war's most exciting moments.
Saddam Hussein reminiscent of
Doctor Strangelove; Slim Pickens
astride a Tomahawk missile,
that loveable kamikaze cowpoke,
spurs jangling in rhythm to
"The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys."
And I, finally back in Paris,
relaxing on a balcony
overlooking the Arc de Triomphe,
fondling a glass of montrachet.
That's the problem with instant--
no time for foreplay.
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