Aug 2012
the atom waits, patiently
he knows no haste
has no grand plan
but when it comes to waste
he is THE proverbial man
we claim to know
his magic and his math
though when watching his show
he often takes a capricious path
dividing and multiplying
when only asked to add
grounding us when flying
replacing haughtily happy with soberly sad
we no longer hide under desks in schools*
or worry about bombs being dropped apocalyptically
but we would be even bigger fools
if we expected him to behave any less cryptically
we are still on the beach
staring at the place from whence we all came
anguished that Eden is not within reach
but can the tiny atom shoulder all the blame?
he knows no haste
has no grand plan
but when it comes to waste
he is THE proverbial man
we claim to know
his magic and his math
though when watching his show
he often takes a capricious path
dividing and multiplying
when only asked to add
grounding us when flying
replacing haughtily happy with soberly sad
we no longer hide under desks in schools*
or worry about bombs being dropped apocalyptically
but we would be even bigger fools
if we expected him to behave any less cryptically
we are still on the beach
staring at the place from whence we all came
anguished that Eden is not within reach
but can the tiny atom shoulder all the blame?
The title is an allusion to the 1957 apocalyptic novel, On the Beach, by Nevil Shute.
*** Younger readers may not know that those of us went to school in the 1950s and 1960s had bomb drills--we would hide under our desks or go to the school basement if it had one--there was a substantial fear of nuclear holocaust.
*** Younger readers may not know that those of us went to school in the 1950s and 1960s had bomb drills--we would hide under our desks or go to the school basement if it had one--there was a substantial fear of nuclear holocaust.
