Such a great question to pose to Carl...is the vast and removed view from the cosmos the only one where we can see our shared humanity (and spirituality)? If you get an answer, please share ; ) Also, love the intersection of sci-fi meets guitar hero on your bedroom wall.
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.
A+, Larry! You can officially expunge that D now. I love the question “is gravity a one way journey?” This poem felt really tender to me and also sad, but there’s something so beautiful about weaving our sadness together with our curiosity.
"Concentric confusion" describes so well the way I experience the systems we live in. I feel this, Larry. The pain of trying to make sense of the nonsensical and the senseless.
Keith, it often seems we live in a world of non-sense! Where sanity and reason often seem outside the norm because of the theater of the absurd played out by our systems and their instigators. I appreciate good hearts and minds like yours, who see with more than simply your eyes.
"the theater of the absurd"...I can't recall ever making a decision to purchase tickets to attend, but here I am! So glad for your heart and mind too, which so artfully combine poetry and hard truths.
I love your thoughtful questions here. There's something about "hazy eyed poets, all out of proportion, and so painfully distorted" that really hits home for me.
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.
Eureka for sure, Keith! What a brilliant and lovely piece this is! You get a A+ on your quick study of physics, and an A+ for creative wonder! I live your take on the law of buoyancy, and how you connect it up grief. Your poem is chock full of splendid lines: “ wouldn’t buoyancy equal the weight of years displaced from a sea of tears “. Incredible! And “ if that loss were as heavy as it feels, shouldn’t hope surface quickly?” Indeed! This is a generative genius poem! Thank you!
Thanks so much, Larry. I have a feeling that physicists would beg to differ about my being a quick study of physics, but I appreciate your generosity (always)!
Bravo on your quick study...and such lovely words..."if that loss were as heavy as it feels, shouldn't hope surface quickly?" I think we have all felt that with loss.
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.
Haha yes, i am certain every mother has had a few (very loving) impulses to give her child a shove. Why should Mother Earth be any different? I look forward to reading whatever you come up with, Karri! I’m certainly no scientist either.
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.
Thank you so much for sharing your post! There is definitely a poem in there! My kids sometimes feel to me like endlessly energetic bundles of NEED (this was even truer when they were younger), and as you so beautifully expressed, even though their needs are real and valid, they sometimes stand in opposition to my own. I’m sending you all the healing, time-to-yourself, space-to-be-you vibes I can muster!
I loved this and so wish I could have had that perspective as a parent of littles. I did both them and myself a disservice by not taking time for me; however, I guess I did something right because my now my 24 year old tells me regularly how important self care and time for myself is. Keep on finding YOU, A! <3
This is wonderful, A. And resonates with the parent in me and the grandparent , too, though the two identities nay see the world differently. Gosh, I remember the immense guilt that bound rise when I did something for myself when the kids were at home, often dampening whatever I had decided to do. Amazingly, the kids always survived, often thrived! In the grandparenting days, the guilt has moved on! Your thoughtfulness and care grounded in live, so keep taking care!
Oh I love this so much! So many great images - “the great laboratory of his mouth!” The title is perfect, and I love the way it implies that your drooly little scientist will remain in motion (unless acted on by a force), but that you don’t explicitly state that. You trust your reader to pick it up in their own - very cool.
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 .
Same to you A! Not being able to sleep has never been a problem for me EVER. I struggled with OCD/anxiety, etc... all my life but sleep has always been an escape until recently. Now my brain is like "how about we just think about everything for awhile" ARGH!
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.
Such a great question to pose to Carl...is the vast and removed view from the cosmos the only one where we can see our shared humanity (and spirituality)? If you get an answer, please share ; ) Also, love the intersection of sci-fi meets guitar hero on your bedroom wall.
What a gem! Like Keith, I love the idea of Carl Sagan suspended on your wall between the images of rock stars. And fhe ending is brilliant!
Nice!!! And what a true statement to end with. Good stuff Chuck!!
Thanks,
with a nod to john lennon,
another poster on my bedroom wall
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.
A+, Larry! You can officially expunge that D now. I love the question “is gravity a one way journey?” This poem felt really tender to me and also sad, but there’s something so beautiful about weaving our sadness together with our curiosity.
Thank you Lisa! Ironically, the poem felt cathartic and playful to write and reminded me I do like science, even when I don’t understand it!
"Concentric confusion" describes so well the way I experience the systems we live in. I feel this, Larry. The pain of trying to make sense of the nonsensical and the senseless.
Keith, it often seems we live in a world of non-sense! Where sanity and reason often seem outside the norm because of the theater of the absurd played out by our systems and their instigators. I appreciate good hearts and minds like yours, who see with more than simply your eyes.
"the theater of the absurd"...I can't recall ever making a decision to purchase tickets to attend, but here I am! So glad for your heart and mind too, which so artfully combine poetry and hard truths.
Wonderful concept and word play...I especially loved "Perhaps Mr. Newton is better at discerning figs than figures of speech,"!
And I understand your poem a heck of a lot more than I'll ever understand gravity, lol!
Thank you Karri--I was thinking Fig Newton's at the time, a lot more comforting than physics to me!
I love your thoughtful questions here. There's something about "hazy eyed poets, all out of proportion, and so painfully distorted" that really hits home for me.
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.
“Loss is sometimes plural, even though it is always singular” - I love this, and the winding logic of your poem.
Thanks, so glad you could follow my winding logic :)
And how much ballast you are carrying 🙂
(adds the old submariner)
Eureka for sure, Keith! What a brilliant and lovely piece this is! You get a A+ on your quick study of physics, and an A+ for creative wonder! I live your take on the law of buoyancy, and how you connect it up grief. Your poem is chock full of splendid lines: “ wouldn’t buoyancy equal the weight of years displaced from a sea of tears “. Incredible! And “ if that loss were as heavy as it feels, shouldn’t hope surface quickly?” Indeed! This is a generative genius poem! Thank you!
Thanks so much, Larry. I have a feeling that physicists would beg to differ about my being a quick study of physics, but I appreciate your generosity (always)!
Aww Keith, what do they know!
I love the exploration of this idea throughout this poem, Keith.
Thanks for accompanying me on my exploration, A.
In many ways that really feels like what we're all doing with each other here, doesn't it? At least, it does for me. 🥰
Yes, absolutely! Traveling together in creative exploration! <3
So well said, you two!
Bravo on your quick study...and such lovely words..."if that loss were as heavy as it feels, shouldn't hope surface quickly?" I think we have all felt that with loss.
Thanks, Karri - glad you can relate, but also sorry that you can!
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.
Haha yes, i am certain every mother has had a few (very loving) impulses to give her child a shove. Why should Mother Earth be any different? I look forward to reading whatever you come up with, Karri! I’m certainly no scientist either.
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.
Thank you so much for sharing your post! There is definitely a poem in there! My kids sometimes feel to me like endlessly energetic bundles of NEED (this was even truer when they were younger), and as you so beautifully expressed, even though their needs are real and valid, they sometimes stand in opposition to my own. I’m sending you all the healing, time-to-yourself, space-to-be-you vibes I can muster!
I loved this and so wish I could have had that perspective as a parent of littles. I did both them and myself a disservice by not taking time for me; however, I guess I did something right because my now my 24 year old tells me regularly how important self care and time for myself is. Keep on finding YOU, A! <3
This is wonderful, A. And resonates with the parent in me and the grandparent , too, though the two identities nay see the world differently. Gosh, I remember the immense guilt that bound rise when I did something for myself when the kids were at home, often dampening whatever I had decided to do. Amazingly, the kids always survived, often thrived! In the grandparenting days, the guilt has moved on! Your thoughtfulness and care grounded in live, so keep taking care!
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.
Oh I love this so much! So many great images - “the great laboratory of his mouth!” The title is perfect, and I love the way it implies that your drooly little scientist will remain in motion (unless acted on by a force), but that you don’t explicitly state that. You trust your reader to pick it up in their own - very cool.
The implicit second half of the law was the first thing I noticed about this poem too. I love it so much.
Loved it. He sounds like he is very much in motion and quite the adventurer!
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.
I love you’re wordplay, and this is so relatable, Karri!
This is so relatable, Karri. My mind has been keeping me up at night again recently. Sending you restful vibes.
Same to you A! Not being able to sleep has never been a problem for me EVER. I struggled with OCD/anxiety, etc... all my life but sleep has always been an escape until recently. Now my brain is like "how about we just think about everything for awhile" ARGH!
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!