Work in Progress by Nick Herbert

Work in Progress

Nick Herbert

Come for the lunch

And stay for the tantra:

Taking new chances

In life-and-death dances

With creatures

That you barely know.

Come for the truth

And stay for the magic:

Share drugs and kisses,

Hesitations, near misses

With seekers

You meet in the flow.

Come for the sex

Stay for quantum reality:

Learn tricks of attention

In half-sensed dimensions

From teachers

Whose lessons explode.

This poem is from Dr. Herbert's blog, Quantum Tantra, which I have mentioned more than a few times in this space. When I wrote to him and asked for permission to reprint the poem, he sent me a kind reply. "Any friend of Bob's is a friend of mine," he wrote.

You can learn more about Dr. Herbert by reading one of his books (such as Quantum Reality); you can also read about him in How the Hippies Saved Physics.  See also the official website and this interview. 

Incidentally, when this poem was first posted on Dr. Herbert's blog, Rudy Rucker popped up in the comments and helped Dr. Herbert revise the last stanza.