The Matrix

Goaded and harassed in the factory

   That tears our life up into bits of days

   Ticked off upon a clock which never stays,

Shredding our portion of Eternity,

We break away at last, and steal the key

   Which hides a world empty of hours; ways

   Of space unroll, and Heaven overlays

The leafy, sun-lit earth of Fantasy.

   Beyond the ilex shadow glares the sun,

   Scorching against the blue flame of the sky.

Brown lily-pads lie heavy and supine

   Within a granite basin, under one

   The bronze-gold glimmer of a carp; and I

Reach out my hand and pluck a nectarine.