The Connectedness of Things
Inspired by A Beautiful Mind
On a cool October morning in 1994
a misty-eyed baby girl parted her lips to cry
while in the other room the morning burst into light
and the delirious shuffling of confused feet
creaked through the wooden floorboards.
With forefinger and thumb rubbing nighttime from her eyes,
she felt her way downstairs to ease her wailing baby,
who did not yet understand the intricacies of this world
and balked at the opening of eyes
and the emptiness of rooms.
Meanwhile in Princeton, Connecticut,
an iridescent beetle broke free from his amber cage
and gasped to taste the sweet air
and to move his aching limbs
while all around the world shifted into focus –
the fog of amber to be replaced by the clarity of mathematics and human nature.
He suddenly remembered the intricacies of the world
but balked at the opening of eyes
and the emptiness of rooms.