Poem #2: Pi

I was
born, the combination
of thousands of genetic
variables; biological pi,
my destiny was limitless.

I became
a linear growth of
memories and actions,
serving not as variables
but as formulaic constraints.

I became
a straight line
plotted on a coordinate
system by society;
time independently
increased as the value
of my worth was judged
by standardized tests
and scholarly processing.

I always
wanted to see the Great
Barrier Reef, but it seemed
extraneous. My friend went
and showed me his pictures.
I never imagined such beauty
could vanish, it was beyond
my calculations. I would see it
another day.

I never
saw that beautiful reef:
two years ago, changing
ocean temperatures killed
the last polyp as it clung
to the rigid structure
it had spent a lifetime
to build. Final minus
initial now equals zero.

I am
on my deathbed, wondering
if I would have seen the reef,
were it still around yet
another day.

Poem #1: Surfaces

Surfaces,

the covalent playground
bears atomic friendships,
but through heated tension
amicable relationships become
decayed.

a school of sheltered children,
clicks of protons and electrons,
are confused when they learn
that they share fundamental
units.

familiar and ambiguous
shapes: I cannot understand
Gaussian surfaces, yet visible
ones prove to be even more
intangible.

membranes within me,
my thoughts ride waves
of sulci and gyri; yet
I cannot reduce love to a
material.

immutable, are echoes
of laughter from Heisenberg
and Einstein which resonate
as we attempt to attain the
unattainable.

having energy which can
not be created or destroyed;
in death, my body will lose
shape and give birth to new
surfaces.