This Machine Never Stops


On an October evening, I stood under the starry sky thinking how the earth had again traveled around the sun. Summer drew to a close weeks ago. The change to Autumn reminded me the great celestial mechanism keeps turning, and spinning whether I’m paying attention or not.

Under the stars that night, I realized we are living in a universe-size time machine. The starry night sky is an illusion. The light from each star is delayed by years, or thousands or millions of years before it reaches my eye. Each twinkling star might have ceased to exits and I wouldn’t know. Any particular star could be destroyed, gone nova a thousand years ago and the light from the blast has yet to reach me.
And while the stars wheel in the sky above me, and I try to live in the moment, a few newly acquired gray hairs remind me this machine never stops.

Copyright 2017 Christopher Donahue

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