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Ecology Publications |
Dancing with Chaos(Salmon Poetry, 2003). Poetry and physics dance in this collection
inspired by metaphors drawn from chaos theory and quantum mechanics. The
poetry of Patricia Monaghan, a Professor at DePaul University in
Chicago, links science and poetry in a passionate tango. Poems from this book have been published in the
American Journal of Physics, (others). Selections can be heard
online: Physics and GriefExcerptIn nature nothing remains constant. Everything is in a perpetual state of transformation, motion, and change. However, we discover that nothing simply surges up out of nothing without having antecedents that existed before. Likewise, nothing ever disappears without a trace, in the sense that it gives rise to absolutely nothing existing in later times. —David Bohm "Actually," Dan said, "I've been reading a lot of physics." He looked down at his empty paper plate and shrugged one shoulder, then the other. "I don't suppose that makes any sense." Dan had not spoken to me in almost a year. We'd seen each other occasionally; we had too many common friends for that not to happen. But when it did, Dan made certain to stay on the other side of the room, to find himself in need of a drink when I came near, to turn suddenly away when I tried to catch his eye. That was the year when I was a new widow, and Dan was about to become one, his partner, Steve, descending into a hell of lesions and pneumonia and fungal invasions of the brain. Even in the blur of my loss, I felt no anger toward Dan—though anger is so predictable a part of grief—for avoiding me. I knew the cause: I already was what he most feared to become. Six months after I was widowed, Dan joined me in that state. Steve gave up his obdurate struggle to remain alive, asking to be kept home when the next crisis hit. It was only a week. Friends told me that Steve's death was gentle and that Dan bore up as well as could be expected. Dan dropped from sight for a time, disappearing into memories and pain. Now it was summer, and we were sitting under blue canvas at an outdoor festival. Dan had approached me with an apology for his actions. I had embraced him with understanding. We were sitting companionably [End Page 24] together, catching up on each other's lives, when I asked him what... Review Oddly, my initial response to Monaghan’s essential realization was “well, yes… but that won’t work in science.” Only then did the obvious really sink in: this comes from physics! So yes, absolutely: in all science, as in my own anthropology; in all life, as in my own life. Immersion and the comfort of uncertainty imply openness, indeed an embodied openness that can be learned from nature. —Barbara J. King. Full review is
located at: Additional commentary www.all-souls.org/sermons/20041010.htm
Essays, reviews |
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