The Physics of Disappointment
Do souls weigh less
after moment of disappointment?
I decided to set up an experiment.
I purchased a scale
with quark weight resolution.
I carefully stood on the scale
to measure my total mass.
With tweezer pincers
enshrouded in taffeta
I softly lifted my soul
and placed it into a tea cup.
I took ten measurements
carefully noting the mean, median,
and statistical distribution
around those amounts.
I made detailed drawings
Then I awaited life.
Moments of disappointment
appeared with heartening regularity.
The data were rich,
the experiment was meticulously conducted.
I am unable to say why
the results were inconclusive.
The Firing of Harry
I told him in my first sentence
for I knew otherwise I could
not say the words.
He took his
glasses off slowly, put his
forehead down on my desk
and wept,
the top of his bald head
bobbing, a moon
with the shadows of
its rifts and valleys
highlighted by the cheap
fluorescent lights above.
I looked at my hands
on the desk top glass making
a crescent smear of sweat.