It is a common observation
That things are either bound or free
And this gives birth to misconceptions
On nature’s own duality
Just like a boulder in seclusion
An object tied is never loose
It has potential in profusion
Yet nothing stored is ever used
In contrast, like a cuckoo bird
An object loose is free to roam
With nothing owned, and all things shared
Yet nowhere to be called a home
But how the stable knows of freedom?
And of the joys of taking flight?
For in the well, where he is hidden
The skies seem dark in broad daylight
And how the liberated figures
To perch and quench on rushing spume?
Since from the heavens, even rivers
Are thinner than a feather’s plume
The trick is repetition thousands
And millions, and some billions more
Each item through the options browse and
Decides to settle, or to soar
Then from this binary decision
The choice is neither ridge nor flock
And one can say, with some conviction
All compromise the bird and rock
Take heart, and listen to this lesson
In life you often have to choose
‘tween earthly form and spirit essence
You gain, but on the same time lose
A man is bound by his possessions
A man with none, will starve for sure
To thrive, one must apply discretion
And choose which path to him allures
Lo, such is life, optimization
Of energy and entropy
You minimize their combination
In hope that this will set you free
The ninth installment in this series of poems inspired by physics (for details, look in the first installment of the series). This one is by far the most "physics-y" poem, dealing directly in the idea of free-energy and how it applies to many physical systems. For further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermodynamic_free_energy
The notion, or extension of, of free energy exists in many other fields of science from organic chemistry, to nureo-biology and information theory. All address some kind of balance between having many options to choose from, or benefiting from holding onto a single choice.
As always, thoughts and comments are welcome.