We have new subscribers! Welcome! I suspect most of you came to 100 Poems through Maya Popa’s recent post, in which she included one of my recent poems, “Voyeurism.” I’m so grateful to her and so glad you’re here. One thing that makes this Substack a little different from most poetry Substacks is that each post (two per week) includes not only an original poem but also a prompt. The comments thread is where the real fun happens, though (and it’s the reason you’ll often hear me saying “we” rather than “I” in reference to 100 Poems). There you’ll find a big-hearted community of fellow subscribers, who share their own poems (usually inspired by the prompt, but that’s not a requirement) and who respond with generosity and insight to one another’s writing. It would tickle me pink if a few of you newbies would join us there!
LIsa, your playful challenge hurled me back to college first year physics, where after an A in the first unit of astronomy, I barely escaped with a D for the whole class. I swore to never be seen with physics again. But here we are, together again.
The surprise landing on your poem was delightful :)) - and what an interesting prompt this is. A scientist I am *not*, so I this was also interesting for me in terms of doing some very quick and dirty learning about the most common laws of physics. I landed on Archimede's law of buoyancy.
Don't we all want to push those kids off our face at some point?!? LOL. Or at the very least, out of the occupying all of the worry space in our brains? But I digress.
Um, yes, this is a very science-y prompt for this non science gal, but I'll give it a whirl.
When I wrote the part about equal and opposite reactions, I had a vague thought that it was a bit like a poem, but I never did anything with it. I think I'll just leave it as is for today.
I'm playing catchup here my my offereing. I really coulnd't get this one off the ground and I have been super busy this week and not been good about taking time for me. But here is what I cam up with .
Lisa, you continue to create evocative and provocative poems and writing! And, your turns into unexpected places are so brilliant! I would have never delved into any law of physics except for your invitation; splendid teacher and guide that you are, thoughtful and funny, compassionate ate and trustworthy spirit that you bring! Oh yes, I imagine Earth often feels like getting us off her face!!’ May she keep pushing!
A PLEA TO CARL SAGAN
it was an honor for this
star trek space nerd
hippie rock and roller
To hang your pale blue marble poster
on my bedroom wall.
Right between
the jimi hendrix and the led zeppelin,
just below Captain James T. Kirk.
A place of honor.
but,
do i really have to zoom out that far,
where no man has gone before,
To see we,
as you see we,
as all sinners all saints
as all beloved children of god
on one mote of dust
suspended in a sunbeam?
It's such a long long roundabout way to
imagine all the people
livin' life in peace.
LIsa, your playful challenge hurled me back to college first year physics, where after an A in the first unit of astronomy, I barely escaped with a D for the whole class. I swore to never be seen with physics again. But here we are, together again.
Gravity
I have heard it said
“What goes up must come down,”
and I wonder, is the inverse true?
Must what goes down
always come up?
Is gravity a one way journey?
If we are meant to come up,
why does it seem like some just keep going,
Down?
Why do these holes we dig just seem to get
Deeper?
Why do some of my beloveds find a rabbit hole,
disappear as in darkness,
never to be seen again
in their prior form?
Perhaps Mr. Newton is better at discerning figs
than figures of speech,
or gravitational pulls,
or rules of life.
How many of us venture down
only to gaze up and realize
up has vanished?
Is it all a circle,
a cycle, an illusion?
Gravity as graceful
or just graceless.
Movements vertical, horizontal
and diagonal criss cross,
concentric confusion.
Universal pulls, proportionate masses
and hazy eyed poets,
all out of proportion,
and so painfully distorted.
Or perhaps, gravity,
like this poem,
is just one big web of intersecting demands
and logic,
I’ll never understand.
The surprise landing on your poem was delightful :)) - and what an interesting prompt this is. A scientist I am *not*, so I this was also interesting for me in terms of doing some very quick and dirty learning about the most common laws of physics. I landed on Archimede's law of buoyancy.
Some say grief feels heavy,
like being under water,
and that hope floats.
Archimedes said
an object’s buoyant force equals
the weight of fluid it displaces.
If that object happens to be loss,
wouldn’t buoyancy
equal the weight of
tears displaced
from a sea of grief?
And if that loss were as heavy as it feels,
shouldn’t hope surface quickly?
Maybe. But as theories go,
watertight does not always mean airtight,
and not all water is salty.
And loss is sometimes plural, even though
it is always singular.
So, it seems that density is everything
when it comes to water -
and loss.
Eureka, again.
Don't we all want to push those kids off our face at some point?!? LOL. Or at the very least, out of the occupying all of the worry space in our brains? But I digress.
Um, yes, this is a very science-y prompt for this non science gal, but I'll give it a whirl.
I had to laugh when I read your last stanza, Lisa. This poem and prompt reminded me of this post I shared at the end of the year:
https://open.substack.com/pub/writingwilder/p/equal-and-opposite?r=pfigt&selection=6a5bc3cb-17f7-4c2a-94da-bb47b8bbd8f4&utm_campaign=post-share-selection&utm_medium=web
When I wrote the part about equal and opposite reactions, I had a vague thought that it was a bit like a poem, but I never did anything with it. I think I'll just leave it as is for today.
Here's a little something for my pup, Bob Barker.
.
An Object in Motion
.
He splinters matches one by one,
gums the box, makes papier mâché
in the great laboratory of his mouth
for a few reckless minutes before
I notice and end his fun.
.
He turns to the zipper on his bed,
the chair leg, the rough drywall edge.
.
He attacks his shadow, ears and teeth
strobing the wall. Between rounds,
he sits still and collects data. Who is
this beast of sunny mornings,
this scentless house-troll?
.
He shrugs and wanders off.
His dark twin slides onto the floor.
.
He herds a dislodged boulder
down the mountainside, loses
three hundred vertical feet in about
a minute, nose to rock, and would
never have been the first to stop.
.
He returns to us on noodle-arms,
and all we can do is cheer.
I'm playing catchup here my my offereing. I really coulnd't get this one off the ground and I have been super busy this week and not been good about taking time for me. But here is what I cam up with .
They say
An object at rest stays at rest
And an object in motion stays in motion
But my body at rest cannot rest
Because my mind at rest is in motion.
Lisa, you continue to create evocative and provocative poems and writing! And, your turns into unexpected places are so brilliant! I would have never delved into any law of physics except for your invitation; splendid teacher and guide that you are, thoughtful and funny, compassionate ate and trustworthy spirit that you bring! Oh yes, I imagine Earth often feels like getting us off her face!!’ May she keep pushing!