Here and there
life clusters
amidst the random
Brownian motion of
atoms and molecules
drawing them
into an order
all it’s own
combating entropy
for their allotted lifespan
they dance defiance
like whirling dervishes
celebrating passionately
their moments in the light
poignant in the knowledge
that entropy
will win in the end
their parts
deliquescing
into the dark
lucky if they
leave a tiny trail
to mark their passage…
© Andrew Wilson, 2024
Over at the Poets Pub, Melissa Lemay in Poetics invites us to riff on the paintings of Alma Thomas – I chose: Scarlet Sage Dancing a Whirling Dervish (1976), acrylic on canvas, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York
I like the shift from scientific to philosophical in your poem, Andrew, especially the lines:
‘they dance defiance
like whirling dervishes
celebrating passionately
their moments in the light’.
As poets we do ‘leave a tiny trail’ to mark our passage.
We studied the Metaphysical poets at school and the effects linger on, Kim…
This is a unique and interesting response to the challenge, Andrew.
Thank you Robbie, it was a great prompt from Melissa…
Remarkable poetry . 🙂
Oh I love this one. Especially:
“celebrating passionately
their moments in the light”
“their parts
deliquescing
into the dark
lucky if they
leave a tiny trail
to mark their passage…”
So true. I think we all leave a little glimmer, if even the faintest.✨
Glad you like it, Melissa, have to do my best when you are in the chair…
You have captured this very well, Andrew. I like the idea of little communities clustering in the larger picture of things. Just like us. Your ending is sobering and yet very true!
Thanks, Dwight, we cannot shy away from our ending – it should animate our living…
Lucky, indeed! Brownian motion describes it perfectly. When poetry is married with science, the results are spectacular.
Poignant but I love the ending: lucky if they
leave a tiny trail
to mark their passage…
Perhaps the secret of living well is never forgetting our ultimate fate but proceeding as if we have forever…
i don’t know what I was expecting, but I sure wasn’t expecting Einstein’s theorem, but there you go, and it fits beautifully with the mosaic.
I wish I had been born in the age of Polymaths, Paul (preferably as a man of means!) but I do like to mix a little science into my art…