The Dead in their Own Time
by F. J. Doucet
“The time elapsed between when we detect the light here on Earth and when it was
originally emitted by the source, is known as the 'lookback time'. The more distant
an object is from us, the further back in time we are looking.” —COSMOS Encylopaedia
Before my first long-distance posting, the old captain
took me aside, told me —Always remember one thing. The stars
are far from us and each other, removed not only in distance,
but time. Remember to love the living. The dead
you leave in their own time— I asked him what he meant, a soldier
surrendered to philosophers' prattle. He levelled me
a stare. —You will know, Captain, when you meet the soul
you ache to hold, alive by your side forever, and know it
for older than Earth.— I smiled. Forgot all
he had said long before we touched
the event horizon, before the wormhole, before we broke
from Orion's Arm to slip the stream of nebulae
like pearls. But I tell you, Beloved, I remembered his words
when we two at last stood together, side by side
to look at the stars. I raised a hand to point my own
and found it utterly dark.