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Are the Laws of Physics Variable?

by seanfarragher 

Posted: 21 May 2006
Word Count: 419
Summary: What if the laws of physics in the universe changed from place to place and we derived inaccurate probability equations without form?


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Are the Laws of Physics Variable?
Sean Farragher

What if the laws of physics in the universe
changed from place to place and we derived
inaccurate probability equations without form?


What if “symmetry” was a boondoggle
and the lights on the Christmas trees
turned off too soon, and Muhammad
in 610 AD medicated for schizophrenia
denied Allah after recovery? No,
the world is not flat. Bush didn’t lie
about WMDs? We can predict words
that will be written in scripture
before they happen. No one lives
certainty that life as we know it
continues to BANG new stars,
and dark matter suddenly visible
enlightens no one, as it was just a ruse --
faulty pieces of puzzles with no solutions.
I ask you: can we break down problems
without proper questions and some deceit?

Imagine you ride in the desert and no signs
are consistent, and you know if one is wrong
you will not survive as you have limited water
and petrol, and the sun is about to rise. You
guess carefully, and say this way, please, I
can hear the desert talking about my lives
and how many I will know before I die.

If your companion believes you are perfect,
he will agree with your choice and you may
or may not survive depending on his choice.
What if he lies? What if he deludes himself?

Making the choice, your companion says no,
let’s make the decision together, and let’s look
for some guidance, perhaps the track of the sun.
We have water for two days. We can wait until
the sunset, and know which way is home. Yes,
I agree, the first man says, I have no exit plan.
I just want to get out of here, and to not be afraid.

You cannot escape your condition, he says, and
aren’t you glad we at least will have a better chance
of making it out safely and preventing disaster.

I can not report the outcome. It hasn’t happened.
The universe changes. Physics is not same
in Egypt and Italy. Perhaps all mystics suffer from
delusions, hallucinations and have conversations
with Gabriel or some other politician on the way
to Mecca from Medina, from Bonn to Baghdad.

Let us pray that the universe is for the most part
consistent and physical laws are predictable. No
one has proven that assumption. Not even Bush,
Einstein, Chaney, Galileo, or the Manitou
of the Lenape-Delaware knows which key unlocks
the sacred box where light begins and ends.



End






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Comments by other Members



NinaLara at 09:35 on 22 May 2006  Report this post
I found this idea interesting. I enjoyed the first half of the first verse very much. It lost me after that because it sinks into mysticism without much dervish. There is more than a touch of Rumi but it lacks his vivid images. I wonder if you add some Basho and Ryoken you may come up with something more direct?

NinaLara at 09:54 on 22 May 2006  Report this post
I should just clarify that when I say 'lost me' I mean that I found it difficult to stay engaged with the poem. The message you are putting across is clear ... just requires more interest.

All the best
Nina

paul53 [for I am he] at 14:06 on 28 May 2006  Report this post
Hi Sean,
Sorry it has taken so long, but life's a bitch at present.
Is this another of your "poem a day" task, or something from before? I ask this because, while there is much "stream of consciousness"/following an idea, there is also the maturity from considered gestation as well.
I read this almost as two poems. The questions within the preamble, and the closing conclusions in the last two stanzas.
But ...
The middle part:
Imagine you ride in the desert and no signs
are consistent, and you know if one is wrong
you will not survive as you have limited water
and petrol, and the sun is about to rise. You
guess carefully, and say this way, please, I
can hear the desert talking about my lives
and how many I will know before I die.

If your companion believes you are perfect,
he will agree with your choice and you may
or may not survive depending on his choice.
What if he lies? What if he deludes himself?

Making the choice, your companion says no,
let’s make the decision together, and let’s look
for some guidance, perhaps the track of the sun.
We have water for two days. We can wait until
the sunset, and know which way is home. Yes,
I agree, the first man says, I have no exit plan.
I just want to get out of here, and to not be afraid.

You cannot escape your condition, he says, and
aren’t you glad we at least will have a better chance
of making it out safely and preventing disaster.

is a poem in itself, and separated from the rest is redolent of Robert Creeley; so much so that I expected one of them to say: "look
out where yr going".
*
Paul


seanfarragher at 14:18 on 28 May 2006  Report this post
Paul, thanks. Yes, the poem was part of the 30, BUT it was alos part of a challenge to create a metaphor that left you in the middle of nowhere. I also think it stands alone. Thanks for the read.


Sean


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