Ada Koch
Past Imperfect (triptych)
mixed media on canvas
(3) 6’ x 5’
 
Past Imperfect
By Glenn North after Past Imperfect by Ada Koch

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.See that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass….”

-Matthew 24:6

Because the past has been imperfect
the present is tense, there is much trembling
here, a fear, beyond the confines
of grammar, that cannot be described
but is perpetually witnessed in the persistence
of humankind to run headlong into war.
What was, what is, what will be 
all rings with a cacophony of bullet
and bone.  What then is a womb
but preparation for a tomb; what then
 is this wound that never seems to heal?
  For all the evolving philosophical stances,
the technological advances, how is it
that we still hear the never-ending screams
from the far flung provinces to right down
 the street?  Shadows from the past
overcast the now and deeply darken what is,
why must peace be rested in rather than lived?
Would that love this ever lurking fear replace
but one can never fix what one chooses not to face
and little boys with guns keep becoming
 bigger ones.