Category: HAIKU
The haiku is an ancient (by North American standards) poetic form that consists of 3 lines: the first and last lines have exactly 5 syllables; the middle line has 7. A haiku is supposed to capture the essence of an experience, especially the sensory part. “Intellectualizing” is considered extremely bad form. Therefore, naturally, lots of mine are about Physics!
Tragedy of the Commons
The liar will lie,
though ten thousand search for fact,
so truth is forfeit.
The thief always steals,
though all the rest are honest,
so trust is forfeit.
The hater will hate,
though thousands try to forgive,
so love is forfeit.
The killer will kill,
though ten million try to heal,
so war is coming.
The cynic ignores
emergence of miracles,
so hope is forfeit?
21 March 2023
Travel Haiku
Havana 1959
El Presidente’s
reef surrounded by shark nets;
fort with touch-me-nots.
Stockholm 1977
A royal wedding
followed by a live sex show
and Millesgården
Dubna 1978
Sheremetyevo:
Arrive late and unannounced.
Wait for black Volga.
Kona 1979
Freshly off the plane,
fragrance of plumeria
smacked me in the nose!
Paris 1980
A Métro platform:
where we all got pepper-sprayed
for speaking English.
Antigua 1980
A charming island
beloved of German tourists
stinks of resentment.
Brugg 1982
The bank doesn’t mind
the soldier’s rifle, but my
wife can’t sign alone.
Tokyo 1983
Anywhere else, you’d
worry on the last subway
alone at midnight.
Seibo Byoin Hospital 1983
A blinking Buddha
merges with the less wise world,
fresh out of the womb.
Snake River 1991
Flashes of cutthroat
scatter in invisible
water under raft.
Bisbee 2009
Mountain become pit,
cupping bright blue & green pools
to its mined-out heart.
Bokelia 2009
Snook tattoo on arm,
my neighbor’s out on parole:
A friendly redneck.
Matlacha 2011
I jumped a tarpon
off the rented dock across
the street from the bar.
New South Wales 2014
Batehaven: parrots,
miles of beautiful water,
but nary a fish.
Belize 2015
Gourmet meals from shacks,
happy folks despite many
reasons to hate us.
Zermatt 2017
Pink petunias
frame every scenic vista
of the Matterhorn.
Florida Haiku
04 Nov 1974:
Leaves of palmetto:
maze’s roof waved by hot winds —
horizon of fronds.
06 Nov 1974:
Soft chink of seashells
shifting with a gentle wave
merge with smooth-churned grains.
Fish Haiku
Lurking by mangroves,
the snapper explains his name
to shrimp and fingers.
Vegetarian
mullet eats no other fish,
and yet is eaten.
Fearsome fangs belie
the graceful delicacy
of spotted sea trout.
Beloved of snook,
annoyer of bait fishers:
The humble pinfish.
A patch of bottom
comes loose, grows fins, gills and teeth,
bites the unwary.
A cruising tarpon
sucks in what appeared to be
one misguided shrimp.
Fiddler crabs will tempt
banded bandit by pilings;
barnacles are saved!
Finny bayonets
slashing in the morning sun:
spanish mackerel!
Flash, swirl, strike and run:
scalloped silver, pink and white
redfish at sunset.
Pilchards flock in green;
suddenly a snook attacks:
showers of silver!
18 February 2009 – revised 23 September 2023
More Physics Haiku
Recently I attended a meeting of the CIfAR Quantum Materials program. It was nice to see the old gang and all the new kids! 😉 Naturally, perverse inspiration struck again…
Iron selenium:
Yes, we have some bananas
in the QPI.
de Haas – van Alphen
without a Fermi surface?
Well, it oscillates!
What’s a pseudogap?
We don’t know, but we can see
them in everything!
In between the sheets
of strontium titanate
it’s interesting.
Unsurprisingly,
quantum oscillations are
everywhere we look.
I don’t understand,
but I use the words as if
I knew their meaning.