navwin » Archives » Open Poetry #5 » Ripple-tide (a short short poetry story)
Open Poetry #5
Post A Reply Post New Topic Ripple-tide (a short short poetry story) Go to Previous / Newer Topic Back to Topic List Go to Next / Older Topic
Kevin Taylor
Member
since 1999-12-23
Posts 185
near Vancouver, BC, Canada

0 posted 2000-01-11 07:31 PM


.

While writing miku (minimalist + haiku) just the other day, I chose my moment, entered the scene, and observed, with pen steady and on its mark, a frog.

A pretty standard frog with lovely green skin sitting in a shady tuft of grass at water's edge. Suddenly, he (or was it she, I never got a good look) leapt into the air in a low gliding arc and disappeared beneath the liquid surface. Gplosh! Only the ripples remained to mark its passage.

At least that's what appeared to happen. And without further analysis Homo Saps have always assumed that Frog-A jumps into Pond-B and makes Waves-C, D and E... Homo Saps will assume anything.

But the apparency of those motions... their cause-effect relationships... is little more than illusion for I am about to make the most startling claims you've ever heard.

As I began to examine the sequence of events that ended in the frog's disappearance, I was forced to blink and look again. Something was wrong. The frog was normal. The water seemed fine. The leap was unexpected but standard by my estimation. The problem was the ripple.

As I split the moment into ever smaller parts, I observed that as the frog slid down and waterward, the surface tension seemed to alter and break BEFORE any contact had occurred.

I have checked and rechecked this observation. And the fact stands.

As any poet would do, I immortalized the moment in my now controversial miku:

green dapple
Splash!
ripple laugh

This, however, has apparently been insufficient for many readers and so I have been obliged to describe my further findings in prose (as with all serious scientific discoveries, truth must never suffer the dignity of rhyme, alliteration, direct communication etc.)

The fact of the matter is that frog (A' ) must have had an exact awareness of both the time and location of that proto-ripple. Now, I can't say (it would be unscientific) that all objects, animals etc have a cognitive awareness that a ripple within the fluidic fabric of the space-time continuum will occur, let alone when or where. I tried a similar series of arcs with rocks and branches that I found handy and noticed no prior ripple effects. The similarity between two sets of observed data does not in any way indicate that identical forces are at work. Our focus is on this particular frog (A' ) and the events surrounding his/her disappearance.

I mention ripples in conjunction with the fluid-fabric of space-time. And I see that some of you are a bit incredulous. Let me put you at ease by dispensing with complicated and somewhat biased quantum/relativistic nomenclature and simply invoke the time honored language of metaphysical epistimology.

Frog (A' ) made an interdimensional shift while moving through portal (X' ). It is commonplace to observe, on telescreens, that when such portals as these open in our own universe, that they form a patch that is both liquid in movement and texture.

What seems to be the bother here, is that frog (A' ) used the portal with an unparalleled degree of accuracy and prediction. The Alienists have inferred that the small cranial capacities of amphibiforms would seem to belie such a conclusion.

This is, of course, not entirely without precedent: to wit, our own Homo Saps, but I digress.

What is peculiarly interesting, is the possibility that frog (A' ) actually CAUSED the portal to appear. This is much more plausible than the myriad suggestions of prediction alone. In either case the matter will have to be more fully investigated.

Several meteorological anomalies have also been explained, it seems, with this new data. There is evidence to suggest that the showers of frogs over several European locations is the result of a reverse transit portal gone a bit awry, as will happen whenever a natural phenomenon is harnessed or mechanized.

As this seems to explain fish, dogs, cats and other animals that occasionally pour from the sky, it may be fair to surmise that Homo Saps is the only species truly stuck on this planet. But that is merely my opinion.

And in an ironic turn of events, it seems that the mystery of which came first... the ripple or the frog, has been solved, but not by those who have most need of knowing: the OtherSideFolk.

For those of you remaining, I'd very much like to read a selection from my latest work (and from which observation, I might note, led to my discovery that it is NOT the wind that makes leaves blow. Rather, it is the rhythmic movement of those arboriforms alone that drives the breeze. A movement not unfamiliar, I might add, to sports enthusiasts around the world)...)

feathers
leaves
dusk flutter


/curtain




< !signature-->

 Kevin


[This message has been edited by kevintaylor (edited 01-11-2000).]

© Copyright 2000 Kevin Taylor - All Rights Reserved
Denise
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-08-22
Posts 22648

1 posted 2000-01-11 07:59 PM


Kevin, are you like some kind of a genius or something?! This is...for lack of the word I want...FABULOUS!!! Wow! Where did you ever get that wonderful humor?! I love it! And this poem/story! BRAVO!!!!!   < !signature-->

 Denise



[This message has been edited by dsnyder (edited 01-11-2000).]

Mike
Member Elite
since 1999-06-19
Posts 2462

2 posted 2000-01-11 08:25 PM


I look forward to your next miku...
Still contemplating the ramifications of your thorougly entertaining effort...  but lost in the inner meaning and attempting to avoid the more controversial aspects of your work, so as to avoid cranial meltdown.   Well done.

Post A Reply Post New Topic ⇧ top of page ⇧ Go to Previous / Newer Topic Back to Topic List Go to Next / Older Topic
All times are ET (US). All dates are in Year-Month-Day format.
navwin » Archives » Open Poetry #5 » Ripple-tide (a short short poetry story)

Passions in Poetry | pipTalk Home Page | Main Poetry Forums | 100 Best Poems

How to Join | Member's Area / Help | Private Library | Search | Contact Us | Login
Discussion | Tech Talk | Archives | Sanctuary