Tribute to T.S. Eliot, August 2007

lyrics adapted from his "Burnt Norton."

If all time is eternally present
Then all time is unredeemable
What might have been
And what has been
Come to one end

Footsteps echo in the memory
Through the pathways which we did not take
Toward the door we never opened
Into the garden

But to what purpose
Disturbing the dust on a bowl of roses?
I don't know.

Through the first gate
Into our first world
Shall we follow the deception of the thrush?
In the autumn heat
And through the vibrant air
The bird calls

In response to unheard music, hidden
And the unseen eyebeam crossed for the roses

So we moved
And they
In a formal pattern--

And the pool was filled with sunlight
And the lotus rose quietly
Quietly

Quietly, quietly

Go, go, go
Said the bird
Humankind
Cannot bear very much
Reality