NOW — AND THEN

A thousand years from now, how will this earth

Conduct itself? Will there be wars, and men

Inventing things? Or will there be a dearth

Of ideas ( such as we feel, now and then? )

Nobody knows. We can surmise, perchance —

But glancing that far oft is quite some glance!

A thousand years from now — in Time's swift flight —

The aeroplane itself may be passe,

And transportation on a beam of light

The natural and the ordinary way.

Men may have bodies made of metals cold

To match the hearts and brains those bodies hold!

A thousand years from now — why should we care

What Science then brings forth — we wo n't be here

To worry over things or to compare

The present with our past — wo n't that be queer?

But men, as now, will hope ( as we have done )

That each new year will be a better one!