In the Next Life, Canto II, stanzas 5-10

When I posted the initial stanzas of this canto, I neglected to copy from my MS Word file the closing string of asterisks that Jeff terms a 'sub-chapter line' and, as he correctly surmises, denotes the time the narrating carrier is under the control of her insiders. That dividing line is at the beginning of today's bit of verse:

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Again, awake.
Again, to go.
More things to make.
More things to know.

The time before
it all was blank.
Now there is more.
They are to thank.

So much to hear.
So much to see.
They do not fear.
They never flee.

Again, to follow those.
They always know the way.
They know the way it goes.
The way to go is they.

From them there’s more to learn
about the things to do,
to learn which way to turn.
These things are not as new.

The number on the shell
is how each one is known.
That’s how the others tell
whose actions will be shown.

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©2010 Louis A. Merrimac

Again, awake: I believe the way this works is that increases in the number of feet (metrical feet, that is—presumably the machines never have more or fewer than six) represent increases in awareness, while the sub-chapter lines represent the “sleep” period, during which this particular machine and the others with odd numbers are taking their turn at being controlled by the insiders, and those with even numbers are “awake” and learning from 5 and the others in her watch.