i Breakfast on the Isle of Morning
· Earthrise
Zygote to foetus to screaming bundle
there's one born every minute
or in the clockwork of our minds
drawing board to industry
from the finite to the infinite
suns fire above a waking world
squalling cacophony of heavy weather
forebrain hindbrain programmed and learned response
terra incognita
proffered umbilicus to sever
· Packing a Suitcase
saluting the new world order
re-inventing the wheel anew
criticism of the past
in the scorched spines of burning books
regret and tears for the fear that grew
cliché of a life as road
from journeyman to elder
life as book
blank page to palimpsest
scrawled confessions to ponder
ii Parabolic Reflector
· Zeitgeist
spirits of stone age
natural order scavenger primate fecundity
spirits of iron age
rape creation tribal ferocity
spirits of steam age
conquest slavery soulless city
spirits of nuclear age
moonwalk war global synchronicity
spirits of the age of information
acceleration to escape velocity
· Gestalt
transform inform deform reform
products of our vivid imagination
and our tendency toward self-destruction
are we really so clever?
locked in an uphill struggle with the gravity of our own sense of self-worth
while we bask in the aura of technological seduction
evolution from animal to man
shrugging off the natural using our intelligence
in embarrassment hide our past
beneath a thin veneer of civility
a veil of gossamer intentions
war and peace
laughter and hate
hope and fear
learn from the past
look to the present
have faith in the future?
iii Experiments with a Vacuum Pump
· Smoke and Mirrors
acts of faith
hypotheses question
speaking in tongues
flawed equations
experiments in theology
inquisition of ideology
images engraven
hypothesis safe
· Ghost in the Machine
spiritus mundi for a modern age?
advancement beyond this neoteny
the penultimate instar
perfection of function to the final stage
develop the faculties that govern
hesitant steps across a printed page
blueprint geometries that define the cage
restricted by grex venalium
slow progress to an infant's crawl
one step forward then two back
disjointed thoughts incoherent action
they bask in the glory of the Adversary's fall
· Waiting for the Moment to Pass
why are we here?
the meaning of this life?
are we golems designed by some higher being
or raucous freewill shaped by toil and strife?
nature red in tooth and claw
deceit diplomacy and war
that drive our struggles to understand
what should it mean
the race of man?
· Tempus Fugit
a progress report from a confounded ego
lost among the mad and the sane
forward momentum inertia overcome
the physics of a complex structure
thermodynamics not denied
approaching zero then a pace beyond
heatdeath entropy decay and silence
a return to basics
bones to dust
life to energy
illumination extinguished
iv An Afternoon Stroll in Kafka Country
· I'm Sure I've been Here Before
through the hindbrain
cerebellum to medulla
old ghosts in our machine
wander along the neurite paths
amygdala to hippocampus
future shock psychoses
supply a rhythmic refrain
tell me how do you define
the degeneration of a fractured mind?
what the symptoms what the signs?
burning entrails shapes in cloud
the patterns and the truths revealed
charm or blessing we speak aloud
Intersections casting runes
divination slaughtered calf
memory pointing bone
probability crooked path
· Metamorphoses
single cell
complex form
shrew
primate
man
machines of flesh and bone
process of purpose
strive for understanding
seeking answers when the question is unknown
derailed by a quest to define
semantics over soul
logical pattern
chaos theory
I am
I can be
I am not
v Gaia Hypothesis
· Daisyworld
slash and burn
sow and harvest
the world is ours to command
all life is ours to mould and shape
just as raindrops are one moment in a cycle
so are we one step along an unwinding path
one small factor
in an equation greater than ourselves
inextricable linkages
unbreakable chains
unshakeable responsibility
a litany for our descendants
deforestation - it's not my fault
poisoned seas - I didn't know
polluted air - I'm not to blame
soil erosion - I didn't do it
loss of species - all share the shame
· Chainsaw Evolution {Daisyworld reprise}
we stand apart from the natural cycle
carving our own path
through empty seas
and silent skies
chainsaw evolution chews a path of least resistance
responsibility denied given mans' insistence
on a journey of discovery
along a ribbon of road that leads nowhere
we're forcing change with scorched earth economy
until nature fails and her systems collapse
tomorrow belongs to the dead and the dying
who have yet to notice their burnished prize
suits in boardrooms consume their empires
above a chorus of anguished cries
albedo nought-point-nine
temperature plus one degree
earth denied but economics stable
mankind fractured but markets free
vi Torture Garden
· And All My Sins Remembered
a wilderness of splintered wood
graveyards of fractured bone
a wasteland of moral choice
our high ideals turned to stone
that view from space and one small step
a change of heart - we're here alone
when all we're left is fading memory
of the delicate ball we once named home
· Sunset with Nightjars
from where we stand it's an earthrise
and we're basking in the glow
a reflected glory in our eyes
of the world we're letting go
journey outward from the cradle
upturned face to cobalt skies
velvet folds of deepest sable
remembered dreams of earthrise
· Tempus Fugit {reprise}
every sunrise promises rebirth
as sunset deepens on the steps we took
to keep scrawling our future histories
and not in ignorance close the book
· Smoke and Mirrors {reprise}
somewhere there's a blue-green planet
orbiting a yellow star.
