Human Kind Can’t Bear Very Much Reality
Atoms hum and buzz
outside the range we hear,
beneath the threshold
palpable by fingertips.
Particles flung by the sun
pierce us through, undetected
by the flesh and bonework
we comprise. We are
insensitive to most of the cosmos
though it's galaxies bellow
at a resonance a thousand octaves
under the basest bass strings
of concerto and quartet.
We can't embrace our own
complexities and certainly
none of those
a thousand light years away
to whom Bach and calculus
would seem but silence and
a tedious inability to pay attention.
outside the range we hear,
beneath the threshold
palpable by fingertips.
Particles flung by the sun
pierce us through, undetected
by the flesh and bonework
we comprise. We are
insensitive to most of the cosmos
though it's galaxies bellow
at a resonance a thousand octaves
under the basest bass strings
of concerto and quartet.
We can't embrace our own
complexities and certainly
none of those
a thousand light years away
to whom Bach and calculus
would seem but silence and
a tedious inability to pay attention.
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Author's Note
It troubles me that we imagine our music and math would even be intelligible to another culture indigenous to a galaxy
far, far away.
Other stories by Gary Hardaway
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I would hope at least our music would. Well-crafted, this. *
I wish I had your facility with language. *
Fascinating thought. Always amazed how you distill galaxies into stanzas.
"a thousand light years away
to whom Bach and calculus
would seem but silence and
a tedious inability to pay attention." **
An amazing closing stanza, Gary. Strong poem.
Word-perfect.
Paltry things. *
Had a debate of sorts in my grad class about what constitutes language. This poem would have fit perfectly.*
"Bach and calculus"
Quite wonderful.
Thanks to all of you for reading and commenting.
So true it is funny, especially the last line.
Thank you, Sara.