In recent years, people increasingly wondered where it all went wrong. Why had people stopped loving each other? What became of our capacity for trust or harmony? Why was there so much pain in the world?
Of course, humankind had believed itself on the brink of destruction every year in recorded human history. Armageddon was still impending and all the Doomsday foreseers were still waiting, boot-heels rapping impatiently, checking their watches, straining their eyes to catch more glimpses of the Signs of End Times.
Whether the End of the World was just around the corner, or in fact a myth mixed with a meme with good marketing, the Doom-sayers were forced to repeatedly hit the snooze buttons on their Countdown Clock / Apocalypse Alarms. Still, no one would deny that most people felt that there was a vague something missing from their lives.
People were unhappy. They felt empty and unfulfilled. They tried to fill the empty spaces with various diversions - like the accumulation of things, endless entertainment, or the drama of others. People were angry; they needed someone to blame. The ever popular morphine of the masses, religion, still abounded, joined by others like scientism, various screen addictions, the provoking of others, Identity by Negation, and meaningless protest.
The emptiness inside also made people lonely; they constantly sought others to fill the Empty Spaces. Endless forays to find the “right one” resulted in incessant disappointment. Despite the promises of all the Experts, no one was finding true love.
The actual problem was that you cannot fill a vacuum with another vacuum. Love for another does not overcome the lack of substance inside; at best, they merely cancel each other out… and temporarily at that.
Historians believed that things had not always been like this. The historical archives - books, blogs and other media - showed evidence of selfless love existing. It just appeared that somewhere along the way, the human race had forgotten how to do it. The problem had become epidemic. They had to relearn.
In 2054, Tempus Fugit Scientific Industries finally found the missing steps to Einstein’s theory and discovered that time in fact was not a constant, but contingent upon your movement through space. Neither was space a constant, but dependent upon your movement through time. By varying these constants, people could literally bridge the ‘mystic veil’ and travel to anywhere and any-when in time and space.
While actually penetrating the veil of the past was impossible for the physical body, Tempus Fugit found they could use incorporeal projection. That is, an observer’s bodiless consciousness could be projected to any time or place in human history. Once there, the person would conduct naturalistic observation in real time as an immaterial entity, moving about freely, but unable to interact, and leaving only a spectral shimmer to someone who might observe them.
They would never be seen fully, but only perceived momentarily as a shadow or a shimmer. People of the various times and places would declare the Observers as spirits, or angels, or demons, or just a trick of the light from not enough sleep depending on the psyche of the observer. The Tempus Fugit Scientists could live with that.
Their first forays into history were to investigate all the classic lovers of history, the archetypes: Romeo and Juliet; Marc Anthony and Cleopatra; John and Yoko; Ernie and Bert, and so on. The initial results were very disappointing. Some of the “World’s greatest love affairs” were fictional only. For example, it turns out that while Bert and Ernie really loved each other, it was more a reflection of the hands that back-loaded them…
Romeo and Juliet were also fictional, although Shakespeare’s infatuation with fourteen-year-olds was not. Scientists learned a lot about the formation of mythos and why those stories were so enduring. They identified numerous factors on the formation of love. Syndromes were named, like the Romeo and Juliet Syndrome, where adolescents’ amorous intentions grow in direct proportion to their parent’s disapproval. At times, the scientists learned more about what NOT to do than anything useful for prolonging relationships.
On the other hand, observation and examination of some love affairs were quite revealing. Looking at his many musical works of John Lennon inspired the scientists to try to unveil the iconoclastic and ultimately tragic love between Lennon and Yoko Ono. The “us against the world” factor, the finding of solace and protection in the other, the sheer need that they were together were all quite revealing. Awards were duly awarded. Decisions cast. Toiling passions wrought.
They would examine the writings of real lovers, looking for elements of selfless and passionate love. They would scour the old computerized social networks - blogs like HidingPlace and BlunderUpon, find and record the writings, and then travel back to observe those entities. Perhaps the most crucial time was to go back to the beginning of the end, just prior to the the last lovers, back to perhaps one of the strongest paired souls of such love.

Lia heaved a heavy sigh of relief. After a long day of fighting, his hands were deftly easing the knots from her neck. The world had been shut out for the time being, and now it was their time to heal, replenish, and comfort each other.
It would be inaccurate to describe Lia as paranoid, but as of late, she felt plagued by an insidious doubt that 1) something was going deeply wrong with the world, 2) that she was being observed, and 3) that perhaps humanity had drifted so far off course from their original form that nothing was what it seemed any more. It would be easy to write off as garden variety guilt from living this far into the 21st century. Perhaps if those feelings weren’t so persistent she would be able to do so. At night, lying in the darkness, she would share her thoughts with him.
“But how do you know this is real?” she would ask. “What if this is all a dream?”
As a more than mere observer for the meta-physical, his answer was more whimsical: “Well, if this is a dream, it’s the best one I’ve ever had because I’m having it with you… and I don’t want to wake up.”
Perhaps she was momentarily mollified by this romantic sentiment. She proceeded straight back to existential wonderment. “But .. I want to know!” she would lament.
To the fullest extent of his ability to opine philosophically, he responded, “Well, I know two things: I will die someday, and I’m alive now. So I want to make the best of it.” He punctuated this sentiment with a soulful kiss.
Although far from satisfactory resolution, it was the best they could do in this realm of existence. Lying awake spooned in his arms as he snoozed softly behind her, her mind would turn the questions over and over. Eventually she would drift off to a fitful and dreamless sleep. Much of the time she spent hovering in the in-between - neither fully awake, nor fully asleep.
This night, however, as she lay drifting in and out of the spectral twilight of consciousness, Lia sensed another presence in the room. Lifting her head slightly and shifting her gaze, she could swear that the shadow in the corner was human-shaped. It had to be a trick of the light. But then again, light and shadow don’t form a head and shoulders…. or move like that…. And the sense of shrouded intelligence lingered.
She was alarmed initially - the sort of “what the hell?” startlement of being covertly observed. But quickly the alarm faded; she knew that the presence in the room wasn’t hostile. It was simply watching intently. In her mind, she asked it questions, trying to communicate. “What do you want? Why are you watching us?” The presence made no response, although its posture seemed to suggest surprise at being observed. It shimmered briefly and was gone. Was it a ghost? Was it someone trying to tell her something? There was simply no way to know.
But she knew one thing for certain: there, laying the arms of her lover, she was safe. Most people would’ve run screaming from the room and out into the night. Lia however, knew that she was protected and loved - and that was enough. She didn’t need to get up, or even wake him. She lay quietly back down on the pillow, adjusting for his arms about her, and drifted the current to sleep. Perhaps in the morning she might convince herself it was all a dream… and perhaps not.

Upon return from the past, the scientists looked agog at each other, jaws dropping from this last journey. They had been seen before, but never perceived, much less communicated with. This subject had sensed them… almost knew them. And unlike all others who caught a glimpse, she didn’t scream or otherwise lose her mind. She had simply let go and stayed focused on what she knew to be real: her life.
The scientists had quickly exited the time stream before the subject had a chance to do more, lest they alter history with strange time paradox. But in the moments before they left, they felt an odd regret. They tried to remember her every feature - the delicate bow of her lips; her small, constantly cold hands; her arched eyebrows; the beautiful curve of her cheekbones; the lines of her body as she lay beneath the comforter.
And that was the essence of this experience: this woman could bring comfort. This woman could experience the love, the joy, the trust, the vulnerability - all the things that they had forgotten how to feel. And in her presence, they felt it too - strange beginnings of new feelings stirring in their chests. It was almost as if merely being in her presence was healing them. Without question, it was the two lovers together that created this energy… a complete fullness of counterparts, a wholeness of yin and yang. These were the two they would have to re-visit again and again, until the scientists, and the rest of the human race, could get it right.
The thought of sharing a triumphant kiss crossed their minds briefly… but flitted away teasingly. It would return in time.
An act of destruction takes no talent-
No thought. No sense.
An act of creation requires intention-
deliberation, and desire.
Even so - in the creation of the newly evolved Us-
is made with constant renewal and respect
and the generosity of heart and soul
to say, “I love you wholly, freely and without condition”
It means taking the person seriously
And not trying to make changes.
It means being intimate enough
To be vulnerable
But trusting that the other
would never harm you.
It means believing in unselfish love-
taking responsibility, admitting mistakes,
and loving the person more because of it.
It means standing up for your love-
despite unyielding drama.
It means doing the big things -
And all the little things in-between.
It means talky-talking all night
and still not having enough time.
And in giving ourselves entirely
we gain the universe.
As of late, the world had laid heavily upon her body and brow. Consciousness borne of frustration plagued her thoughts and punishments from times lost were still being enacted within. It was not the moment so much as what it represented - deep inside her emotional landscape, now reshaped, it still bore the wounds of Before.
The world had become cold and colorless, like a body rejecting a donated organ that no one wanted now. It was a confirmation of all the worst childhood nightmares. It was an affirmation that this world held nothing for her.
And yet, what was there to do? We can trudge on meaninglessly, lifelessly, and weather the storms as best we can. We can suffer the outrageous slings and arrows of others, hoping for a fatal wound so we could depart this mortal coil, but instead suffering only the debilitating and painful kind that wear us down, each step a little more painful than the last…
Or we can put our focus on the exceptions… losing expectation of all the life lessons before - we can hope and try again. We shed the clothing of yesterday, and with care, put on our new and finest silken black finery.
Hand in hand - we can join with those who can, despite the drama, close the doors and shut the world out for just a little while. Let us immerse ourselves in ideas of each other - the exceptions, the rule-breakers, the love-makers, the dreamers of dreams.
In the new world, hidden perhaps purposely, we will see lovers old and new - dancing to the rhythms dedicated to love and strength and renewal. And you and I will join hands and become a part of this. And this joining will linger on inside our hearts and minds because hope is the gift we give each other with every embrace.
We laugh - as if we have never laughed before.
Talking through the night - and time bends, evaporating into the ether.
We feast our appetites -
From the sea
to the sand
to the dance floor
spicy and naughty -
we’re always hungry for more.
When we are together, nothing matters.
We add the soundtrack to our lives-
the music and laughter of our souls
bubble up to the surface and erupt
in a cascade over and around us.
The secret is to simply lie down beneath
relax
and look up at the moving stars above
let the music take you
as you begin to spin with her movements,
her glow and glittering light -
reflected and refracted
traveling with her every turn
covering those lucky enough to be underneath
in a dazzling and dizzying display.
The ever-changing incandescence of her soul -
a gorgeous incendiary,
a spectacle of brilliance.
Fallen Angel-
Creature of night.
Forced into solitude
by a world’s expectations
and demands that you be
more than you are
and only for them.
I feel your pain.
I know your sorrow.
I share your burden.
Fear not the darkness -
For you are not alone any more.
I will walk beside you
and all that I am
and all that I have to give
I share with you freely
and wholly.

Set adrift-
out of time
out of space
when two become one
crossing over
is inevitable.
Drawn together
like forces of nature
to become
much, much more
than we are apart.
She …
A true Lolita - who somehow not only found the fountain of youth, but managed to bottle it. The intensity with which she feels things is part of her signature. When she is up, she soars. When she is low, she sinks to the depths of the ocean. When she laughs, her whole body joins in. And when she cries - albeit briefly and infrequently - her soul weeps.
Ho he’cetu yelo, I have spoken these words.

He would rush to greet her – his lips rounding out and diving for hers, his arms trying not to crush the breath from her in enthusiasm, and his hungry hands helpfully checking to make sure her breasts hadn’t fallen off during the day. (Later, he would require a visual confirmation, a taste test, and a grip strength test to make sure her nipples stayed securely attached, but for now, a simple, if frisky, frisking would suffice.)
Their embrace was always a signal. It would commence the evening’s celebration, like the pop of a champagne cork on New Year’s, and it would simultaneously tell their bodies that everything was okay again – you can relax now, like goofy, happy music at the end of a long movie.
They would share their days of trials and tribulations. The evils, once shared with the other, would lose strength and begin to fade, finally. He would smooth her brow with kisses. She would rub the tension from his back and neck.
They would understand each other at a depth so profound – getting it at a truly existential level – that they knew they were no longer alone.

The Warrior in the Dark
(to my Wolfy)
She floats above the wetness below-
And beneath the storm clouds above-
Also drenched, but from her own efforts.
Shooting arrows of fire through me
With each supple movement-
Liberating her body,
Responding like an echo
of a time long past.
Awareness of her has no horizon,
Suchness and Thusness-
I can simply take her in-
And surrender myself
To her grace and beauty.
And after her storm has over-
and her seas have settled-
and skin has just begun to dry-
must I now penetrate
in return.

An act of destruction takes no talent.
No thought.
No sense.
An act of creation requires intention-
deliberation, and desire.
In the creation of the evolved Us-
it is made with constant renewal and respect
and the generosity of heart and soul
to say, “I love you wholly, freely and without condition”
It means taking the person seriously
And not trying to make changes.
It means being intimate enough
To be vulnerable
and trusting that the other
would never harm you.
It means believing in unselfish love-
taking responsibility, admitting mistakes,
and loving the person more because of it.
It means standing up for your love- despite unyielding drama.
It means talking all night
and still not having enough time.
And in giving ourselves entirely
we gain the richness of our universe.

I dreamed of you
passion embodied
desire personified …
You came to me in the dark-
your wet mouth exploring
hands holding me in
exactly the right place …
I came to you-
trembling with thirst
turgid and ready
to penetrate your
innermost secrets …
We came together
on that night
now transformed
forevermore …
and with you
my dreams
always come true.