shadowgraph 1: imagining the earth
(poetry detected in hendrik lorentz’s nobel physics lecture, 1902)
the present day? ‘in the mind’s case…’ the programmed air. the outshone sun. end-
less study: the room’s must… the corresponding silence. science investigating
its own circumstances? the magnetic can. (men raising triplets.) light grain, beam
splitting. search narrowing: ether in mind. language succeeding who? math: talk
cut short. (rapid typing…) liquid bodies. the X-rayed page? scientific method: nature
bound to say. (‘the enlightenmentTM axiomatic…’) small world: thought’s negative. life’s
long way to come. don’t panic? drawing back the light… titanic: the mind’s tip. after-
math: the trampled earth. ‘nature’? ether clearing… the runaway street. sat-
isfied equations. the indexed breeze. iron rainbows. ultraviolets. pretty picture? horse-
drawn men. all time local. building blocks? atomic foundation… (body: parts) key-
stone corpse. poetic method, salt from light… measured words. the world’s
point? the unimaginable mind. the felt wind. staunched shadow. science’s matter-
horn. (absence weighing…) göttingen: light leaves the trees. spun lines. earth: moving
machine. the dozing bull. god’s splits. paths blocking the way… sepia ether. sha-
mankind. waves packed in ice. music’s programme? the remaindered day.
peace movement (main-à-dieu, n.s.)
child’s-
eye, sun fold-
ing, lan-
terns in
the
bay
— by Sean Howard
Sean Howard moved to Nova Scotia from England in 1999. His poetry has been published in Canadian journals including Geist, Other Voices, Quills, Prairie Journal, The Antigonish Review, The Nashwaak Review and Prairie Fire as well as zafusy (UK) and 4AM Poetry Review (USA). Sean holds a Ph.D in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford, UK, and is adjunct professor of political science at Cape Breton University, pursuing research interests in nuclear disarmament and the philosophy of science. A recent paper – ‘Very Different Butterflies’: The Scope for Deep Complementarity Between Western and Native American Science’ – was published in ‘The Pari Dialogues: Essays in Science, Religion, Society and the Arts’ (Pari Publishing, 2007). To view some more of Sean’s poetry on-line, visit www.zafusy.org/poetry/seanhoward.
Copyright© 2008, by Sean Howard and Spinozablue. All Rights Reserved.