Far Removed From Arches, Utah, 9 May 2018

Experiments by engineers suggest arches,

Natural arches, form from fins as follows:
Whenever stone erodes a little more from
The center of the long sides of the fin than
From either end, the weight of the overlying
Rock is redistributed towards the thicker
Stone at the ends of the fin. This then
Compresses the stone at the ends more
Than the stone in the center, making
The latter more prone to weathering.
That begins a feed-forward process
In which the burden steadily falls
On the ends, compacting them,
While the thinner center rock
Erodes more and more quickly,
Relatively speaking, that is,
Until there is an alcove, and
After long enough, an arch.
Eventually, the arch falls,
Leaving pillars
That erode
To nothing.
Everything
About change,
Time and memory
(Symptoms of change),
Works analogously. Change
Wears some phenomena faster,
Making others more precious. We
Cling to stories, keepsakes, photographs,
But the erosion of the rest around them
Distorts the past, creates new pasts, new
And more delicate shapes. Then those, too,
Collapse, fins and arches irrecoverable,
Except, there’s always something left, new
Made, less lovely perhaps, but something
Our sources and distortions left, the start
Of the next that will erode into prominence
In its own trajectory, become beautiful as art,

And then collapse. Not an arrow, time. An arch.