Pressure Cooker
The boiling point for water,
at sea level, is two hundred
and twelve degrees Fahrenheit.
Under pressure the boiling point
will rise at a scale corresponding
with an increase in pounds
per square inch or kilopascal.
I’m not really sure what
the boiling point of faith is
but there would appear to be
an inverse relationship
with an increase in pressure.
Gods and their minions tend to boil
over easier and with more frequency
as the pressure of life’s uncertainty
rises.
Force equals mass times
acceleration. The force required
for flying metal to separate
human limbs from the body
varies based upon the size and age
of the human in question.
The break point for an eight year old
is less than that of an exchange student
or an adult woman but all will break
if sufficient force is applied.
Nails, ball bearings and gunpowder,
ignited in a pressurized environment,
will achieve the required velocity
and generate more than enough force
to break most humans along with
most of my faith in humankind.
most of my faith in humankind.
SMG
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15 comments:
Oh my God, Steven, the science in this, the cold, cerebral description bring home such a human grief. I am with you on this. So well done.
damn. wicked response to boston...ugh...interesting bit on the religeous relationship with pressure...in a rather obtuse way...christianity spread at its greatest during persecution...once mainstreamed it leveled off...and in relation to that i wonder at other fanatics...
This is clinical, just like the murdering bastards that planted such inhumane devices.
Theres a chill to this that once read, is hard to shake off.
A unique take on such abominal procedings.
dang...the break point indeed is different...i didn't even manage to watch the news...was just afraid of the pics.. a thought provoking write steve
The evil lives even at high temperature coupled with high pressure, or maybe is fed by them. New shades of inhumanity show themselves every day. Good one, Marty.
Don't blame you for reaching your boiling point. (Good ending!)
A bold write SMG. This is what real poets do. They go there. We get what you are trying to say poetically. It's more a rebuke to fanatics who fail to tamp down the rhetoric. Your metaphor and analogy speaks loudly and boldly in rebuke to such nuts as the Boston Marathon bombers. Keep writing and speaking your mind. Poets are the last true prophets in the world today.
What was once under pressure... wow
So sad, a powerful write.
This is so sad. Bad things do happen, but I have to believe in the good of most human beings.
A striking execution in this poem - you make a strong point.
I am impressed with the juxtaposition of physics (used to be my favourite subject, in my days as a scientist, studying to be an engineer) with the ultimate human horror. A strong and bravely written poem, which could, in some quarters be considered controversial, being so clinical, as it is. But the close is its strongest and most memorable part.
Wow... I started the poem with a smile and ended with a lump in my throat. What a way to put it all into perspective, and a brilliant write at that. God bless us all.
Wow, Steve, this is so intense. Someone said "clinical" in its details, yet so breathtaking and heartbreaking in its sentiment. Wow. Glad I found your site.
This is so sad. I'm really sorry for the victims. "luckily" the bomb was on the floor an none got their faces injured or lost an arm or a hand!
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