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Laura Lynn Brown


Ship of Tools

Train of spoons,
speedboat of forks,
forklift of knives,
kayak of whisks,
wheelchair of tongs,
toboggan of ladles,
lifeboat of graters,
golf cart of corkscrews,
Conestoga of peelers,
paddlewheeler of mashers,
magic carpet of mortars,
motor home of pestles,
pedal boat of scoops,
school bus of spatulas,
spaceship of basters,
bathysphere of cleavers,
convertible of zesters,
Zamboni of timers.

[Note: First line borrowed from Dana Levin's poem, "My Sentence"]
​

Physics for Poets,
Chapter 1: Entropy

“Physics is hard. Commendably, Piel does not reduce
the subject to metaphor; this is not physics for poets.”
                           --Washington Post book review

German scientist Rudolf Clausius coined
the word in 1865. He took
en- for contents, -trop- for transformation, 
meaning “contents that have been transformed.”
He thought the meaning would always be the same. 

The second law of thermodynamics says
heat can’t transfer from a colder body
to a warmer one. Emily Dickinson,
having read true poetry, felt so cold
no fire could warm her. The poem took
the top of her head off, where her heat escaped.
But she could pour her heat into her poems, 
which in turn can suck heat from her readers
and leave them with that absolute zero feeling, 
so maybe that’s not a good example. 

To understand entropy, think of teens. 
Thermodynamically, entropy also means
measuring the amount of thermal energy
that’s not available to do work. A teenager, 
a lump in the bed late on Saturday morning
unable to help carry the groceries in. 

In information theory, entropy means
“A measure of the loss of information
in a transmitted message.” A group of kids
play the gossip game around the table. 
It starts “Mr. Shafer has hair in his ears”
and ends “Mr. Shafer is here and he’s queer.”
Entropy is how much truth got lost. 

Disorder or randomness in a closed system
is another meaning. The rest of the house
gets regular airing and frequent traffic, 
but all are forbidden to enter the teenager’s room.
the floor is obscured with clothes – who can say
Whether they’re dirty or clean? Yet the CDs
are neatly filed in alphabetical order. 

Mainly it means what most of us think it means, 
“the smashing down of our world by random forces
that don’t reverse.” The universe winding down
like an old-fashioned wristwatch. Energy lost
that can never be regained. A teen’s first car, 
beautiful in the sun, until she sees
a dent on the driver’s door that wasn’t there
yesterday. It will never be the same. 

​
Picture
Picture

Laura Lynn Brown's Profile 

Feeding Time

The baby doesn’t want strained peas
or cottage cheese.
His lips won’t part
for apple tart.
He can’t be coaxed to eat his fish.
He hurls the dish
against the wall
and starts to squall.
But when the piece of buttered bread
he spurned as dead
has hit the floor--
he points, asks “More?”

[Note: the form of this poem is a “minute,” a 60-syllable poem with a specific syllable-per-line count and rhyme scheme. It was invented by Verna Lee Hinegardner, former Arkansas poet laureate.]

Aim

There are times one wants
to be in the crosshairs:
halftime, cheerleaders
with the T-shirt bazooka;
parade, near the curb
where the candy's flung; 
catcher's mitt, safe
or out depending
on a teammate's hurl. 

Yours is an arrow
in archery practice,
touching the heart
of a padded target.
It's sight, accuracy, 
timing, skill; 
never wound 
or kill.

Food Service

The overseer of meats
at Mehlman's Cafeteria

would plate a slice of meatloaf
when he saw my brother in line.

The morning window woman
at Community Bakery

knows without asking: cinnamon
doughnut, coffee with cream.

When the angry woman in the wheelchair
sends back her eggs on Christmas Eve,

the night manager who remembers
I had a blueberry waffle last time

cracks two in a bowl, takes
the whisk from the cook

and beats 'til fluffy, teaching,
"This is how she likes them."

The Hard Way

If I were
one foot small
I would use
those bolts like
a climbing wall
inch myself up
grasp the rope
sound the bell
’til one inside
showed up to
bear me through
that door that
was clearly open
the whole time

Comments?

***

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