~Michio Kaku
Connective strings today.
photo by michael davis-burchat
String Theory Relationships
by Kelli Russell Agodon
The essential idea is this — the man you love is connected to you
no matter what, but he’s also connected to the woman
down the street with the small dog that barks at the lilacs,
and she’s connected to the cashier at the market who’s a bit rough
with your grapes, but he thinks you’re ten years younger than you are
and he gives you free saltwater taffy and calls you
darling — but he also calls her darling, and her dog
darling, and the man you love along with the grapes.
The essential idea is this — all objects are composed of vibrating anxieties
— everyone wants a window or aisle seat and no one wants to sit...
read the rest here
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photo by Alexander Baxevanis
A short poem from Alicia Ostriker:
The secret shape of this book is a parachute
all the lines leading to the person hanging there
drifting on the wind and always falling
waiting for the mists to clear
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[Thought that would be a good prompt -- "The secret shape of ________ is a ___________"]
Friendly Fairy Tales has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Brenda!
If you'd like to join the Winter Poem Swap and you haven't yet, email tabatha(at)tabathayeatts(dot)com.
You find the best stuff! Holding on to the vibrating anxieties today...
ReplyDeleteThe secret shape of morning is an egret lifting off the water.
ReplyDeleteParachutes and physics and anxieties, oh my! This is a post I will return to... lots to ponder. Thank you, dear Tab. xo
Lots of food for thought in Agadon's poem. Of course I can't help but think about Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory :). Super quote at the beginning of this post, too. Thanks, T!
ReplyDeleteI read it all through and then again, Tabatha. Yes to the sometimes 'bruised grapes" but I still love being called "darling" by whoever does it. And I love "It’s not personal when the universe says it’s complicated", a feel-good line. Thanks for the poem love & the prompt!
ReplyDeleteWow. Just wow. "String Theory Relationships" is the type of poem I wish I could write. The ability of some folks to juggle so many loose ends in their mind and then somehow tie them all together in a poem that blows your mind is, well, mindblowing.
ReplyDeleteoooooh. String Theory Relationships....that's brilliant! I'm not sure why except she makes it work in a way that makes me say WOW and then want to ride that ride again.
ReplyDeleteLove the prompt! You know I love a challenge.
Love that "String Theory Relationships"--so much honesty in the connections, so cool how they are made. And humor! These lines made me laugh: When the man you love says there’s a new connection called supersymmetry/and it exists between two fundamentally different types of particles/ called bosons and fermions, you hear bosoms and females./ You hear he’s thinking about the spin teacher with the nice breasts
ReplyDeleteand you burrow deeper.
I love this first poem Tabatha–the connectivity is fascinating and the ending is charming, as is his sense of humor. Wow and look at that parachute image–the view looks pretty clear up there.
ReplyDeleteOh I love both these poems, but the string theory one connects to a conversation I had with a new friend yesterday when I was trying to explain that we are all human and we are all the same - I was trying to recall the words of Maya Angelou on this topic, but now want to be able to also quote: "you are the bridge connected to the bridge connected to the man
ReplyDeleteyou love and the woman you dislike"
Makes me tingle.
I love this comforting image of us connected to everything else - a much needed thought especially as the world becomes more divisive each day.
ReplyDeleteEvery staff member in our district watched the Indie film ANGST last Friday, so the vibrating anxieties really resonate with me, as does the necessity of connections, even though
ReplyDelete"And you
will be connected to people who make your eyes roll."
I love "the shape of" prompt! Jotting it in my notebook now!
Thank you for both of these poems! I'm still thinking about connections 3 days later, & I love that the flashlight works. The prompt is thought provoking!
ReplyDeleteSo much good stuff! I love both poems. I'll have to come back and try out the shape of things prompt.
ReplyDelete