The Elephant in the Time Machine

The Elephant in the Time Machine

Suppose I were to travel back a day
To when you tossed a dime,
And watch in secret as you flip the coin
To see if you and helpless fate should join.
I, of course, already know the way
It came to land that time –
If I don’t tell, and you don’t know,
Then is your will still free, or just for show ?

And if I travel back a thousand-fold
To watch, and watch, and watch.
I would, I bet, observe the constant threads,
The endless runs of heads, heads, ever heads.
So does your ignorance then not withhold
Your destiny one notch ?
You are a puppet, acting out a script –
And so, I think, must I be likewise gripped.

But no !  For we’re all chrononauts aboard
The Tachyon Express –
Speeding sixty-secs-per-minute forth,
And always quad-dimensional due-north.
For time is just our name for this vast hoard
Of causes and effects.
Through endless seas of future we must plough,
Surfing on the ever-later Now.