Love Story

You draw my eye ~ whenever
You enter a room ~
Your grace and the very
Shape and the size of the
Presence you inhabit in the Universe ~
Are so unique that I would know you
Anywhere ~

Whenever I think of you ~
I think of love on the grand scale ~
As if you and I were meant
To have a mighty impact
In the scheme of life ~
I find it hard for me think of us
In any other way
And yet ~

While I was filling up those rooms
Inside my head ~ with memories
Of magic and shared ardor ~
You have been always ~ the
Calm and steady core at the
Heart of my existence ~ without
Whom I’d have shattered
Long ago ~

Here in this reality ~
You have tethered me to Earth ~
And I have shared with you my stars ~
Can you even begin to imagine
What comes next ~

(Originally published May 24, 2017)

The More We Know

Recently my son sent me a PBS video (link below) on the topic of a “Crisis in the Foundation of Mathematics”. This is because he knows of my interest in the subject, despite my rather rudimentary understanding. The spirit is willing . . .

I found the narrator to be lively and intelligent, and I could tell she was dumbing-down her talk considerably. Nevertheless, she lost me about two minutes in (and that’s being generous), but I persevered till the end, and I found her conclusions fascinating.

It amuses, but does not amaze me, that yet another of the ‘concrete’ pillars upon which our science rests, has turned out to be as ephemeral as the others. Our math has no solid foundation, our Cosmos is made up of mostly dark matter and dark energy, whose existence we can prove only by the observance of their effects on that small percentage of ‘normal’ matter we can actually see.

Similarly, we do not understand how electricity works, nor gravity, without which we and all else would cease to exist. We stand on an Earth which appears solid, but which at its fiery heart is as alive as we. Witness its constantly shifting tectonic plates, volcanic eruptions and vast storms. Mere miles stand between us and the pitiless, cold vacuum of space, from which we face daily threat of extinction by meteor. Clocks and calendars measure our hours and days and years, but at any significant distance from our planet, they have no relevance. What is time, for instance, to a Cosmos which measures its existence and its distances in infinities.

Such a lot to think about, on a Wednesday morning.

Air Water Fire Earth

I look up into the
Deep blue vault
Of the heavens
And think of the thin skin
Of the atmosphere
The only thing that
Keeps us from the
Dark cold depths of
Space and instant
Annihilation

I stand at the edge
Of the ancient cliff
Looking down at the
Restless ocean
As it crashes and
Breaks against the
Shore
Another attempt
In its timeless battle
To take back the land

And later still I sit
Gazing into the fire
Basking in its warmth
Thinking of long ago
Days when I was
A child and Summer
Was forever
And love was ever
A shimmering promise
On the edge of my
Horizon

I remember the fields
With the sun on them
The ripening grain
The forever rows of corn
Tasseled and shining
Green as the leaves
On the trees
That surrounded
And sheltered our
Home

Thus I recite my litany
Air Water Fire Earth
And I feel the pull of you
As I feel the effects of
The gravity I cannot see

To me you are the most
Elemental of all
Without whom nothing
Matters
You are the love of
All my lives

I see the remembrance
Within your eyes as well
And peace and love
Enfold us
We have found each other
At last

What Will We Leave Our Children

As vile as we
Are beautiful ~
Still ~
I think the
Human race ~
Has earned the
Right
To go on ~

If you judge us
As a whole ~
And not by the
Evil causes
We’ve espoused
From time to time ~

The great majority ~
Though not as
Silent
As it once was ~
Is made up
Of those
Just like us ~

Who want the
Same things ~
Feel the same
Emotions ~
Bleed the same
Color ~

Can we not try ~
Here in this
Eleventh hour ~
To choose what
Is best
For us All ~

Will you not
Join together ~
So that our
Children
Will have
Air to breathe ~