Time Machines and Laser Beams

Poem by Steve Denehan

Most of her questions

are about the future

when, when, when

practical things usually

Christmas, school

our upcoming holiday

though sometimes she wonders

about the distant future

hovercars and jetpacks

time machines and laser beams

I tell her that the earth

is a time machine

that as we sit in the kitchen

winter sun in our eyes

we are hurtling

through space and time

she looks at me

You know what I mean Dad.

I tell her that the future

is coming

whether we like it or not

that she should try to do

the hardest thing of all

enjoy right now

I tell her that today

was the future

once