Cold and Harsh and Beautiful

The Trackless Path

Money is at the same time cold and harsh,

And also beautiful.

It is beautiful

Because it is cold and harsh and plain.

It is one thing in life that you can count on

To remain the same.

You bend to its reality

Or crash against its solid frame.

Two plus two is four. It is the terrible truth

That most men can never wrap their minds around.

One day we will escape into a math that bends reality.

But that new reality will require a forsaking of the old.

Until then, we face the horror of a truth we can’t escape.

And that truth is both terrible and wonderful

Depending on whether we humble ourselves enough

To slow down and know the numbers

Or race on toward the doom

That awaits all those

Who won’t.