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Ages
Expanding universes knock,
Politeness cultured long ago.
They don't recall and can't unlock
The face of one who taught them so,
But all will swear from infancy,
Exacting standards made them know
Behavior's true propriety.
As time began to stretch and grow,
The universes sought to be
Enlightened, vast, and wise—although
Their youth betrayed them constantly.
Emotions swirled and slapped their stars
From galaxy to galaxy
Defined by black hole abattoirs.
A couple million years' decree
At last restrained spectaculars
And settled things to some degree.
The universes went to bars,
Dimension spanning, turned their eyes
Abroad to rifle strange bazaars,
Connecting, tossing winks and sighs.
Communication's jaunting cars
Created groups where truth and lies
Alike could laugh and smoke cigars,
Increase the universes' ties,
And bring about a working bond
That even now can harmonize,
A camaraderie beyond.
Of course, the future still applies.
The universes' growing pond
Continues flooding. Sureness flies,
And soon among the links they spawned,
Uncertainties will start to fray.
Their shines no longer paragoned,
The level tips, a downward sleigh.
Alas, without a magic wand—
And none exists—the day by day
Proceeds to tatter, creak, abscond.
For entropy's a staunch array
That never stops, will never mock
But likewise never goes away
Until it winds the final clock.
The universes blink, mislay
Their thinning gasses, lose the rock
They kept on permanent display,
Providing proof they used to talk.
Explosions, yes, but mostly slow
And incremental: block by block,
The silence creeps as lights go low...
Politeness cultured long ago.
They don't recall and can't unlock
The face of one who taught them so,
But all will swear from infancy,
Exacting standards made them know
Behavior's true propriety.
As time began to stretch and grow,
The universes sought to be
Enlightened, vast, and wise—although
Their youth betrayed them constantly.
Emotions swirled and slapped their stars
From galaxy to galaxy
Defined by black hole abattoirs.
A couple million years' decree
At last restrained spectaculars
And settled things to some degree.
The universes went to bars,
Dimension spanning, turned their eyes
Abroad to rifle strange bazaars,
Connecting, tossing winks and sighs.
Communication's jaunting cars
Created groups where truth and lies
Alike could laugh and smoke cigars,
Increase the universes' ties,
And bring about a working bond
That even now can harmonize,
A camaraderie beyond.
Of course, the future still applies.
The universes' growing pond
Continues flooding. Sureness flies,
And soon among the links they spawned,
Uncertainties will start to fray.
Their shines no longer paragoned,
The level tips, a downward sleigh.
Alas, without a magic wand—
And none exists—the day by day
Proceeds to tatter, creak, abscond.
For entropy's a staunch array
That never stops, will never mock
But likewise never goes away
Until it winds the final clock.
The universes blink, mislay
Their thinning gasses, lose the rock
They kept on permanent display,
Providing proof they used to talk.
Explosions, yes, but mostly slow
And incremental: block by block,
The silence creeps as lights go low...
This flies a little over my head, but I think it's personifying galaxies and talking about the rise of entropy and the heat death of the universe? It maybe feels a little long, though I see what you were going for in the structure as it relates to the prompt: 7 stanzas of 7 lines each. The ABABCBC rhyme scheme goes off without a hitch, and the meter is there. I think I'm more impressed by it adhering to that structure than by the plot itself. The most interesting parts are where you cash in the personification full-bore and have them going to bars and bazaars, while the rest feels more detached.
I'm inclined to say that this reads like an extended metaphor for the cycles of human civilization, rather than an ode cosmology. The personification is all too scrutable, and we know very little about our physical origins. In the end, we are left to talk about ourselves.
I like the odd-numbered feeling that is created by the rhyme scheme. Following my interpretation of the poem, I wonder who or what 'entropy' is, whether the actual physical concept is being referred to or something more along the lines of postmodern futility. Or both.
I like the odd-numbered feeling that is created by the rhyme scheme. Following my interpretation of the poem, I wonder who or what 'entropy' is, whether the actual physical concept is being referred to or something more along the lines of postmodern futility. Or both.
>>Pascoite
>>Heavy_Mole
Thanks, folks:
And congrats to the other medalists! The prompt made me think of the whole "seven ages of man" thing from philosophers and Shakespeare and all those kinda guys. I also knew I'd need a seven line stanza, and my favorite is the one called Canopus after a long poem Clement Wood wrote back in the 1930s. Canopus also being a star, I had to go all cosmic, and here it is.
I think it needs one more verse, actually, each line using one of seven rhymes already established in the poem to bring it back into the present and say something about how the universes know the end is coming someday, but that day isn't today so they don't worry about it. Or something... :)
Mike
>>Heavy_Mole
Thanks, folks:
And congrats to the other medalists! The prompt made me think of the whole "seven ages of man" thing from philosophers and Shakespeare and all those kinda guys. I also knew I'd need a seven line stanza, and my favorite is the one called Canopus after a long poem Clement Wood wrote back in the 1930s. Canopus also being a star, I had to go all cosmic, and here it is.
I think it needs one more verse, actually, each line using one of seven rhymes already established in the poem to bring it back into the present and say something about how the universes know the end is coming someday, but that day isn't today so they don't worry about it. Or something... :)
Mike