Trust

Today I invented a time machine.
I powered it up and turned it on,
It buzzed with a ferocious venom.
Suddenly, a figure appeared –
Through the cloud he was there.
He was me.
Stunned, I realised this was the future.
I was staring at a wiser, older me.
So many questions to ask,
So many problems to solve –
But he was not here for chit-chat;
In fact only six words were said

‘Do not go through the machine.’

Then as quickly as that, Vanished.
Needless to say I was disappointed.
After all, in the future surely
I will have to go through, simply
to warn my younger self, like today.
Dilemma.
But I won’t let it bother me.
I will trust my future self,
Turn the machine off
And live my life.

But I always wondered.
What was I trying to warn myself?
What was so important that demanded
Traveling through time?
The mind ticked over as years passed;
The machine a dusty relic in the corner.

I am now about that age.
Older, wiser and still alert; I trust
Myself not to time travel, even to the past.
But I cannot help but turn the machine on –
Just for old time’s sake.
The buzzing was familiar.
Do I complete the chain? But why?
There is nothing to warn my younger self.

Suddenly a figure appeared –
Through the cloud he was there.
He was me.
Stunned, I realised this was the future.
I was staring at a wiser, older me.
Why was he here? Why did I travel?
But he was not here for chit-chat;
In fact only six words were said

‘I beg you, use the Machine.’