Poetry Formula

I have come to the conclusion that life, poetry, theater and, often, prose are most poignant when they evoke all of our senses (touch, hearing, taste, smell, kinesthesis and sight). For instance, this is why we like going to the beach so much — the warm sun, the roar of the surf, the salt-air and sun lotion smells, the gritty sand on our feet and bodies, the beautiful blue horizon, even the fried clams at the local clam shack.

The same can be said for fine restaurants, the ambience, the soft music, the taste and smell of the food ... even the lush napkins and tablecloths.

So, dear reader, using this formula, here is my doggerel:

A lavender-scented zephyr tugs erotically at my soaring soul,
With its cacophony of siren serenades.
I never expect the acrid aftertastes that I get
When it chills my bones as it fades among the scarlet sunset.

Now, dear reader, you know the secret ... and you too can be another Keats  ...

More Than Meets the Eye

Scientist have long speculated that our universe has more dimensions than we now realize ... some offer as many as 24. Imagining an universe beyond four dimensions (length, width, depth and time) gets a little dicey. This has to do with our senses. Unless we can sense things with our eyes, we have difficulty imagining them as dimensions of our world (time being somewhat of an exception).

But what about our other senses? If gravity (or related "force") is a dimension, we actually can sense it without the use of our eyes. Same thing with temperature. What about color (yes, eyes are involved but,more broadly, the entire electromagnetic spectrum ... maybe adding brightness and saturation to the mix)? What about sound? What about magnetism? In this case other animals are said to have such sensors. My guess is when it is decided what any additional dimensions beyond four are finally agreed upon, they will not be tiny strings curled up (as string theory postulates) but much more pedestrian things like suggested above.

There is more to life (and science) than meets the eye ...

Afterward: Add speed (of light) to the above list. Didm't Einstein tell us that speed was absolute and not relative to its platform?

Growing Old

A major annoyance of growing old is the diminishment of our senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, etc. (etc. is a big one). However, the real pain and pathos comes from our shrinking circle of friends and family. Death too often then becomes our escape from numbness and isolation.

Those Silicon Valley moguls who think that they will live hundreds of years might have second thoughts as they stumble upon these realities.