Time and money are irrelevant

[JJWilliamson]

If you'd been given
a 65,000,000 year life span

and were born just after
the Tyrannosaurus-rex extinction,

you'd be dying round about now,
but you'd be very wealthy.

[bodkin]

Original. With my SF slant on these things, I'd have made it concrete rather than speculative:

"Bob was given..."

I for one welcome the dawn of the post-Bob era.

Ian

[Ros]

Wealthy in what, though? Not sure small mammals had much in the way of cash.

I wonder what you'd be dying of, after all that time?

Ros

[Firebird]

Love the irony JJ. Fantastic idea. Wish I'd have thought of it. No needs to say it, but obviously it works well for me as it is. But Ian's suggestion isn't a bad one. It kind of distances the reader even further in a way from mammals as a whole.

Cheers,

Tristan

[JJWilliamson]

Thanks, Ian, Ros and Tristan

Original. With my SF slant on these things, I'd have made it concrete rather than speculative:

"Bob was given..."

I for one welcome the dawn of the post-Bob era.

Ian

I like your suggestion, Ian. I'll have a think about it to see what occurs.

Wealthy in what, though? Not sure small mammals had much in the way of cash.

I wonder what you'd be dying of, after all that time?

Ros

Yes, it's a ridiculous supposition and is conceptually impossible, but imagine if you'd been told you have all that time to live only to find at the end of it you still had to die. You'd be pretty lonely for most of that time with other humans only making an appearance after 64.7 million years. Look at what you'd have learnt and acquired. Everything would be priceless, with your mineral wealth alone being beyond the dreams of Croesus, although cash is a very modern invention. It's a philosophical dilemma because it would seem never-ending. Ultimately time and wealth are irrelevant anyway. Nevertheless, we should still try to understand what's going on. One day we might even find out. I suspect you'd be dying of old age. It would eventually get you.

Love the irony JJ. Fantastic idea. Wish I'd have thought of it. No needs to say it, but obviously it works well for me as it is. But Ian's suggestion isn't a bad one. It kind of distances the reader even further in a way from mammals as a whole.

Cheers,

Tristan

Pleased you liked it, Tristan. I also like Ian's suggestion and will definitely give it some thought.

Best to all

JJ

[Firebird]

Hi JJ, I think your poem is saying much more than you give it credit for, though I like what you are saying about it. I thought that the person in the poem could be seen as representing the whole evolution of mammals (obviously we are mammals) up until the present. And that if we could see ourselves in this context of 65 million years of evolution we would realise how little man's present obsession with wealth is worth, and how we are bound to our environment and thousands of other species that we should respect. I also thought you chose the extinction of the dinosaurs to suggest that if we don't change we may share their fate as a result of our own myopia - the dinosaurs couldn't see what was coming either.

I'm probably hugely over interpreting, but I think in this instance your poem invite it. I would not always say this is the case.

Cheers,

Tristan

[JJWilliamson]

Hi again, Tristan

Hi JJ, I think your poem is saying much more than you give it credit for, though I like what you are saying about it. I thought that the person in the poem could be seen as representing the whole evolution of mammals (obviously we are mammals) up until the present. ...Great point but I must admit I wasn't thinking about the whole of mammalian evolution. I AM NOW THOUGH! I was, however thinking about progression and growth. And that if we could see ourselves in this context of 65 million years of evolution we would realise how little man's present obsession with wealth is worth ...Absolutely spot on. It tends to highlight our diminutive position and how we are nothing more than a troublesome blip on planet Earth. Our obsession with wealth is extraordinarily shallow, given that we stay around for such a pitiful length of time. I keep my eye on the pennies as much as the next guy btw. and how we are bound to our environment and thousands of other species that we should respect. I also thought you chose the extinction of the dinosaurs to suggest that if we don't change we may share their fate as a result of our own myopia - the dinosaurs couldn't see what was coming either. ...A very satisfying interp' there Tristan, and one that could well come true. I often wonder how mankind will progress. What will the technology be like in say, 10,000 years from now. There's a good chance we'll have created our own extinction programme long before then.

I'm probably hugely over interpreting, but I think in this instance your poem invites it. I would not always say this is the case. ...Great to see where you took this poem. Some of your interp' is on the button but you've extended my original intent very successfully. Good to read.

Cheers,

Tristan

Very much appreciate you coming back to explain your position.

Best

JJ

[ray miller]

The Monopolies Commission might have something to say about this.

[JJWilliamson]

The Monopolies Commission might have something to say about this.

Laughed my proverbials off when I read this, Ray.

Best

JJ

[Antcliff]

Turns out not to true. Had you been born then (etc), it turns out you would have invested heavily on outdated technology and lost all your cash when the steam engine came in. You kept thinking that the age of steam was a fad, but..

Upside. Had you been born then (etc) and lost all your cash (which was invested heavily in watermills), you would have got over your decline and set up a buddhist yoga retreat on the banks of Loch Tay. You would be there now, serving a good carrot and aubergine soup at four in the afternoon.


Seth

[JJWilliamson]

There's always a catch.

Carrot and aubergine. Sounds like a gritty combination of inestimable benefit to humanity.

Now that's worth paying for.

Best

JJ

[TonyMac]

You would have bankrupted your pension company and possibly the NHS all by yourself.
I'm doing a pretty good job as I retired early with health problems 23 years ago
This is one of those short poems that gets people thinking and I like that.

[Macavity]

Agree with TonyM, definitely seeds some tangents, but has a fun element too.

enjoyed

mac

[ton321]

Hi JJ
If wishes were dinosaurs, beggars would ride,
Cheers Tony

[JJWilliamson]

Thanks, Tony M, Mac and Tony

For the entertaining replies.

Tony M and Mac

This is one of those short poems that gets people thinking and I like that.

The above quote was good to read. It had that effect on me when I was thinking about mankind's position in the general scheme of things.

Tony!

A fascinating response. If my legs were wheels, I'd be a bicycle.

A preposterous proposition indeed.

Best to all

JJ

[Namyh]

JJW - After 67 million years of living, one might be tired of Life. On the other hand, some of us would ask for an extension. Fascinating poser about the end of human longevity. Namyh

[bodkin]

I don't mean to be picky, but isn't it "are irrelevant" ?

[JJWilliamson]

Thanks, Namyh, for the 'fascinating'. It's one of those growers, I think. After a while you start to think beyond its context.

Best

JJ

JJW - After 67 million years of living, one might be tired of Life. On the other hand, some of us would ask for an extension. Fascinating poser about the end of human longevity. Namyh

I don't mean to be picky, but isn't it "are irrelevant" ?

It would seem the irrelevance and grammatical irregularity of 'is' isn't working.
Consider it changed.

Best

JJ

[bodkin]

Thanks, Namyh, for the 'fascinating'. It's one of those growers, I think. After a while you start to think beyond its context.

Best

JJ

JJW - After 67 million years of living, one might be tired of Life. On the other hand, some of us would ask for an extension. Fascinating poser about the end of human longevity. Namyh

I don't mean to be picky, but isn't it "are irrelevant" ?

It would seem the irrelevance and grammatical irregularity of 'is' isn't working.
Consider it changed.

Best

JJ

Unless you mean: "Time, and money is irrelevant" ? I only thought of this after you replied but it may be an even better title...?

Ian

[nar]

Fantastic.

There's two things that I really like about this.

Firstly, that the context of "round about now" seems very "well, maybe this month", when 65M years is so long.

Secondly, that the idea of wealth after so long has a comic irony about it.

I'd be tempted to change "given". It could have a religious ring to it. Maybe "taken"/"stolen" are too strong, but some nod toward self-determination (or survival or cunning) might add to the humour.

I'd also be very very tempted to repeat "just" in every stanza. Ambiguous words are lovely... ["you'd just been given" :: "born just after" :: "dying just about now"].

Best...

N

[JJWilliamson]

Thinking about that one, Ian. I meant time is irrelevant and money is irrelevant so they are both irrelevant.
I'm ok with 'are' but I am looking at your suggestion with interest.

Best

JJ

[JJWilliamson]

Thanks, Nar

For the very generous critique. Appreciated.

I'm glad the humour was apparent because it is there.

I'm looking closely at your suggestions. I'm thinking about lucky or fortunate to replace 'given'
or I could follow Ian's initial suggestion and kill two birds with one stone.

Thanks again

Best

JJ

Fantastic.

There's two things that I really like about this.

Firstly, that the context of "round about now" seems very "well, maybe this month", when 65M years is so long.

Secondly, that the idea of wealth after so long has a comic irony about it.

I'd be tempted to change "given". It could have a religious ring to it. Maybe "taken"/"stolen" are too strong, but some nod toward self-determination (or survival or cunning) might add to the humour.

I'd also be very very tempted to repeat "just" in every stanza. Ambiguous words are lovely... ["you'd just been given" :: "born just after" :: "dying just about now"].

Best...

N

[Crayon]

JJ - Irrelevant to whom? My main problem with this is that time and money ARE relevant to the human condition. Unless the poem is trying to say that death renders everything that goes before it irrelevant. But then why pick out just time and money (Are space and sex not also irrelevant? Love and war? Ham and eggs?) and not simply say life is irrelevant?

I don't see how the poem proves the title statement.

The T-Rex is a nice image, but it's not really correct to say "the Tyrannosaurus Rex extinction" when it was a mass extinction event. Apparently it's called 'the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event' or 'the K-T extinction event'.

Capital M for money?

[Ros]

I'd agree that money would be irrelevant, because T Rex would view it as a very modern insignificant invention. Time, though, may be the most important thing to something that's lived that long. Would it be desperate to extend that lifespan? Or happy to see it end? You could speculate either way.

I'm fine with 'the Tyrannosaurus Rex extinction,' as a shorthand for the K-T extinction, as more readers are going to understand what you're saying.

Ros

[cynwulf]

This made me smile. Simultaneously succinct, witty and profound. One pedantic nit-the specific epithet in binomial zoological names is always lower case- Should be Tyrannosaurus rex- ICZN rules OK.
With best wishes, c.