Glastonbury, 1994
When they invent time travel,
whether DeLorean or phone box
I won't go forward, but back.
There’ll probably be strict laws
about interference
and the paradox
as explored in science fiction
forever, and yet, a visit
to Glastonbury in ’94
surely wouldn’t be a threat,
or trigger Bradbury’s
butterfly effect?
(Unless someone already did,
and that explains the Trump.)
I’d blend into the heaving crowd,
a very happy, sunburnt piggy.
I want to see Johnny Cash live.
I want to watch the Man in Black
and hear him walk the line.
’69 at San Quentin
is out of the question,
but ’94 will do fine.
A simple time machine and off she went,
pausing momentarily to buy a tent.
P.S. Cottier
The ‘butterfly effect’ mentioned here refers to the short story ‘A Sound of Thunder’ by Ray Bradbury, in which the accidental killing of a butterfly in the distant past results in a very different future world, not least in political terms.
Apparently it was hot at Glastonbury in 1994, with no mud.
I messed up the numbering of my posts, having two marked as #24. Today is #29.
Oh, happy journeying! When you come back, please write us a poem about what it was like. :-)
ReplyDeleteIf that's within the Rules of Time Travel, Rosemary!
ReplyDeleteI love this idea, but did not know that Ray Bradbury used the concept of the butterfly effect. I have a poetry collection of the same name, quite a twist on the term and draws on movement between now and ancient times.
ReplyDeleteHis story dates from the 50s, I think, Susan. Yes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Sound_of_Thunder
DeleteWonderful. I love that final couplet.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisa. It was fun researching the weather at Glastonbury in 1994; I assumed it would be dreadful in the first draft and had me rolling in mud!
DeleteI am screaming with the pleasure of this poem. The lightness of the longing! Wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kerri. I have been watching the performance on YouTube, which is great, but not as good as being there. As Mr Cash died in 2003, we really need a time machine.
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