My apologies, dear regulars. I forgot to warn you about the extra post. I am posting my response to We Write Poems prompt from last week, which asked us to come up with our own theory of the beginning of everything. I did a bit of research and combined science with metaphor [and a nod to Terry Pratchett and his brilliant world] and came up with this:
nothing
exists
except
a tightly
wound string
compressing
dimensions
of space,
bound–
and darkness is upon
the face of the deep–
until the string collides
with an anti-string
[tightly wound
in the other
direction] bursting
the confines
annihilating
the strings–
and there is light–
unwound, unbound
space escaping expanding,
growing stars so massive
they go to their deaths
exploding stellar dust;
particles drift [gravity
pulls] collide
to become our space,
our universe–
and from dust we came–
until the energy darkens,
decays, dissipates,
and the strings
rewind, pulling
space back
into its
confines
until
exists
nothing
…and then a giant
turtle swims by…
Please visit We Write Poems to see what else people came up with to explain the beginning of it all.
I shall see you tomorrow for our usual Thursday Thoughts.
Irene
25/05/2011 at 7:38 am
Oh wow, this is very well done, the image of the string is so apt. Then the wonderful turtle.
margo roby
25/05/2011 at 8:03 am
Thank you. The Terry Pratchett reference with the turtle came to me last night!
annell Livingston
25/05/2011 at 9:03 am
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful…using the “string” to wind and unwind your words, love it!
margo roby
25/05/2011 at 9:06 am
Thank you, Annell. I was hoping that is how it comes across.
Chris Goan
25/05/2011 at 9:12 am
Lovely Margo! I have just had a wee trip through some of your poems- and very much enjoyed it.
I’ll be back! (If that does not have too many Terminator connotations…)
C
margo roby
25/05/2011 at 9:14 am
Thank you, Chris! Glad to have you visit and you are welcome anytime [even with Terminator connotations].
m
vivinfrance
25/05/2011 at 9:24 am
Margo, I salute you. This is a splendiferous explanation for just about everything. I wish I’d written it!
margo roby
25/05/2011 at 9:32 am
Why, Viv! You have made my week. Thank you.
pamelasayers
25/05/2011 at 12:10 pm
Margo, from beginning to ending, this is wonderful. The ending caught me by surprise. I love that.
Pamela
margo roby
25/05/2011 at 12:11 pm
Thank you, Pamela. It did me too. A flash of inspiration last night!
Sharp Little Pencil
25/05/2011 at 2:26 pm
Margo, thanks so much for visiting me. Quantum physics is very helpful in understanding the “string” that started it all. Like “the ties that bind,” in a way! Is the turtle reference from Native American creation stories?
Also, your form, the way it is long and stringy, very effective. Loved this take. Here’s a laugh for you from Amy:
http://sharplittlepencil.wordpress.com/2011/05/25/sarahs-schnooks/
margo roby
25/05/2011 at 2:54 pm
Amy — I spent some time with string theory for dummies online this weekend.
The turtle reference is a nod to Terry Pratchett, one of my all time favourite fantasy writers. His books posit a world that is a flat disc on the backs of four elephants on the back of a giant turtle swimming through space. Each of his books take place on the discworld and each satirises something: Hollywood, Fairy tales, Macbeth. You name it he has skewered it.
Thank you for the link. I absolutely loved the poem and all the different alliterations, as well as the humour of the conversation. Very clever. I am going back now to reread more slowly. Our language would be much duller without Yiddish.
anjum wasim dar
25/05/2011 at 2:45 pm
water
life
submerged
yet alive
seeping
surging
surfacing
gasping in
air
from earthly dust
made so fair
I see
a difference
trend
in my beginning
is my end
A Light bright
will be
forever shining
The Power
who holds
the wound
and the unwound
forming the string
forming the shape
from dust to create
the Universe Supreme
tis the Truth
The Truth No Dream
margo roby
25/05/2011 at 2:55 pm
Anjum! A new style: more focused, less twin-ish. I like it. Now we’ll see if you can do that again!
anjum wasim dar
25/05/2011 at 3:22 pm
Thank you M My Gracious Guide,you are a Poet, I followed your blogs and found them filled with all sorts of poems and prompts for more poems.
My Twins dimmed their lights in honour and respect-as visions of prose came in caskets wrapped in flags,
I followed Your style and your lovely poem M-
Mary
25/05/2011 at 3:11 pm
Margo, I enjoyed your poem greatly. It all sounded so scientific until the very end, which took me by surprise and left me smiling!
margo roby
25/05/2011 at 3:13 pm
Thank you, Mary! When the ending came to me it left me smiling too.
anjum wasim dar
25/05/2011 at 3:34 pm
rats
rabbits
turtles
popping
hopping
swimming
caught
followed
watched
life minute
delicate
intricate
life unknown in
spaces black
is life light?
who has
returned
from the
last flight
light everpresent
we turn away
we go astray
we wish to stay
oblivious
suspicious
jealous
Forgetting Our
purpose
of love
in wonderland
why is one
a living dead
why is the phrase
read and reread
‘Off with her head’?
b_y
25/05/2011 at 4:43 pm
Turtles all the way down. One of my favorite visions of science and belief.
margo roby
25/05/2011 at 5:13 pm
Thanks, Barb. Definitely with turtles.
Ron.
25/05/2011 at 5:47 pm
I, too, love that turtle. I may BE that turtle. Wonderful.
And thinks for stopping by the eggs.
margo roby
25/05/2011 at 9:08 pm
There are a few of us might BE that turtle, Ron. I’m glad I found the eggs. I realised today why I found the blog’s name so familiar. During NaPoWriMo someone gave a prompt that gave the titles of twenty or so blogs. I used the names of about fifteen in a poem. Yours was one of the ones I used, a turning point phrase. So, thank you.
Dick
25/05/2011 at 6:26 pm
String theory wound around Discworld. An elegant and entirely plausible explanation of the prima causa!
margo roby
25/05/2011 at 9:10 pm
I was hoping I would get one commenter who knows Pratchett. Thank you, Dick. And I rather like the two theories together, myself!
1sojournal
25/05/2011 at 6:28 pm
Turtles are interesting creatures, carrying that load, slowly up hill and down, how dare we think we have a corner on the knowledge of a destination. Loved what you did here and thanks for your comments on my myth.
Elizabeth
margo roby
25/05/2011 at 9:14 pm
I had turtles as a child, fairly big ones. They are fascinating and I love how you put that, Elizabeth: knowledge of a destination. Thank you for your comments.
margo
Tilly Bud
26/05/2011 at 6:38 am
String theory and Pratchett – nicely done!
margo roby
26/05/2011 at 7:28 am
Thank you TB! I like to think Pratchett would be amused. I saw him once from a distance of about six feet and I think he would approve!
Elizabeth Young
26/05/2011 at 12:59 pm
Awesome poem, enjoyed this very much this morning! A difficult topic to write about even if ones beliefs are defined…
margo roby
26/05/2011 at 1:37 pm
Thank you, Elizabeth. I enjoyed the exercise and managed to combine myth, fantasy and science!
Josephine Faith Gibbs
26/05/2011 at 2:35 pm
Margo, I’m all but squealing! We love Pratchett dearly. Chuck is reading the third book of the Tiffany Aching series to us at present. Tonight before we get started I’ll share this with the family. (I’d better make sure supper is early enough to accomodate a discussion of string theory.) And, yes, I’m confident Sir Terry would like your poem a lot.
margo roby
26/05/2011 at 2:49 pm
Yay, Josephine! I have almost everything Pratchett wrote. He is a wonder! And, he wears a cape!!! Thank you for your comments and the pleasure of knowing you will share the poem. Wish I could hear the string theory conversation!
bluebell books
27/05/2011 at 8:24 pm
easy but profound word flow.
it takes talent to write for a challenge.
Check out our short story slam today,
We love creativity, your input is valued.
Cheers.
Happy Friday!
Hope to see you in!
margo roby
27/05/2011 at 8:48 pm
Thank you kindly for the invitation, BB, but my prose narrative doesn’t move like my poetry. I did check out the slam and enjoyed wandering through your site. So much going on.