Y2K

When I was “in despair” (the dark days

when I actually used such terms)

I noticed the behavior of animals — 

              sleep when tired, eat when hungry

That made a lot of sense to me

and yet I felt different

              I felt my humanness too much

No fly ever wonders whether it should make

lots and lots of maggots

              It gives birth on a mound of cat food

or inside the rubbish bin

As far as I know

it’s not worried about overpopulation

or what sort of environment its kids

              will grow up in

My humanness sees me at an art gallery

              watching others

                            watching walls

My humanness gives me dark thoughts

of cruel behavior

              You are in the States

a visa glitch and there you remain

              Like Star Trek, I talk to you on a screen

              your face half a second out of sync

with your speech

              I’m in the future

              my Tuesday is already over

and I want to tell you all about it

              to prove my superiority

That lovely conceit of time

              that saw people travel from all over the world

to be in Gisborne

              for the first sunrise

                            of the new millennium

              Remember

how we all thought the sewer pipes would burst

              and the criminals would escape

              or something like that

                            Y2K packs sent to every household

                            because no one knew for certain

                            what the numbers 2000 really meant

              Somewhere, people, important people

                            cowered in bunkers

                                          fearing the worst