A Passing Life

“…… (But) That was Then, (and) This is Now.”

What a strange set of companions these two couples are. Strange in the sense that they are molded of the same “stuff,” yet connected by two contradictory verbs…past and future. Still, there is heredity between them, the one giving identity and purpose to the other, sort of like The Hatfields and McCoys.

You remember these families, right? Years upon years layered up, yet the ancient curse, the primordial dispute, is inescapable, simmering in their genetic composition. Who of the latest generation can recall the primal origin of their conflicts. Remember, Esau and Jacob are their progenitors.

The Dream

Night, when dark dreams arrive, embers smoldering, a sudden spark, a puff of smoke, gray as the fire’s ashes, old flames, now a dull heat…but that was then, and this is now.

Images move in slow motion, non-sequentially, leaping forward, then backward

Time glimpsed not held, the stage strange, exaggerated with hyperbolic props

Characters, ethereal and contorted, warping, bending, moving.
Ghost-like in their deformity, the dreams glimpsing some recognized semblance of a past life… but that was then and this is now.

Life, reconciling itself in these dreams.

Futilely, That-was-Then tried to hold on tightly with a weak grip. Ever pursued by This-is-Now ~ youthful, relevant ~ the tensions grew to the point of ultimate conflict, when This-is-Now became That-was-Then. An incessant struggle where there is no victor. Ever!

When does this point of conflict occur? Perhaps when The Elder This-is-Now can no longer contend with The Younger This-is-Now. Who could deny that it’s not the cunning artifice of a mad man, so insidious and Machiavellian that it would be laughable if not so serious. Stay with me here…there is a message!

But it has to be this way, you know. Otherwise, This-is-Now, fearful of change, would hold everything in a death-grip. ”Free me, I die,” it would scream, being choked by Status-Quo that refuses to allow inside its moldy villa the fresh breath of life. No, that’s what retirement homes are for… a place where This-is-Now must find its own rocking chair on the porch of Has-Been, enjoying the sunset of retirement.

All has not been blissful for This-is-Now. There was a time when This had multiple flings with youthful Gadgets, and Now was enamored by the flirty, but unpredictable French vixen, Avant-garde. These affections occupied This and Now for some time in their marriage, but like all things, they were replaced by other seductions. Soon, of course, This-is-Now could no longer keep up the pace, quietly yielding with a sigh into That-was-Then... a natural progression.

Life had treated That-was-Then more kindly. Yes, the transition from one “state” to the other was difficult, but painless. Today That-was-Then enjoys its twilight hours, renewing its college love of bridge, bingo and binge buffets. And yes, gossip. It has finally become harmless, both to itself and to its environment.

Some have suggested a divorce for This-is-Now. They say they’d be happier living separately, perhaps joining Face-Book, exploring cyber waves for excitement. They are, after all, now more or less sedentary, scant reminders of the former lives, with a lot of time on their hands. They would, of course, be required to submit pictures of themselves when That-was-Then, not This-is-Now. Bald, grey and wrinkled doesn’t score with the new generation of This-is-Now.

Some say that But and And should change positions in the lives of these couples. “But” was born with that “half-full glass” attitude, always looking on the negative side of things, while “And” was more can-do. Imagine: “And That-was-Then” would finally loose the grip on the past…”But This-is-Now” would always be a reminder that the future is not far from becoming the past.

Dreams end…that’s a good thing. Just as A Passing Life of this Inanity concludes, confusion still reigning!

Bud Hearn
June 25, 2009