Windmills of Mars

By William Kern Kern

When I was younger I imagined that I was invulnerable and my life was measured in decades, seven or eight at least, or even ten but, as I grew older and wiser-more aged than wizened-I began to realize that my life was measured in months and weeks until one day I understood that my life and everyone else's had always been measured in minutes and seconds and that death might appear at any moment after birth to cut us down and carry us away. The cosmic second, my mother used to say. But if you are careful and clever you can live an entire lifetime in that one cosmic second, and sometimes two or three. So I began to despair for the years I had wasted on trifles, on meaningless pursuit of worthless goals and love of treasure above the treasure of love. By the time I was old enough to begin to understand the meaning of life, I wondered if it was too late to do anything about it. Outside the stork-eyed far away red sun absorbs the Martian sky until night falls ice cold black and I am glad I am in the cave city with Doe and I stare at the glow of the heatsticks against the sloped walls of the cavern because I cannot sleep for fear of the returning dreams.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1480096423
• ISBN13: 9781480096424
• Release Date: October 2012
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 114 Pages
• Weight: 0.39 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.1" x 7.8"