ode to descartes

by steve waterman
no v, no t,
no relativity
when x is prime
there is no time

no time dilation
no time variation
length ain't contracting
when velocity is acting

descartes would be furious
or at least a bit curious
with their mathematical game
include two origins in just one frame

ignore that coordinates
exude an inordinate
quantity of abscissas
what a stretch that this is

galileo transformed
lorentz then conformed
just substitute and solve
and let it all revolve...

around this equation
let v = c
and length gets tiny
and time gets wee

then al came along
and we all sang his song
his theory he shared
mass times c squared

but there must be a flaw
cause it still ain't no law
no v, no t, no relativity
and x don't equal no x prime plus vt

though physics seems relevant
i state without comedy
it is really just a question
for coordinate geometry

though time ain't absolute
i would still try to refute
events are sequential
two observers not evidential

three observers informed
how they all are joined
by time and by space
events can be placed

these events are not equal
to no horizonal sequel
this connection's a sham
no space time diagram

and for further detriment
his famous thought experiment
some lightening and a train
strikes the logic of my brain

like the twins, one shot into space
traveling faster in her pace
and though this trip has made her bolder
she has come back as the younger not older

for light is a physical thing
and carries its energy sting
its mass makes it curve
and descartes would deserve...

a straighter approach
which none could reproach
for light comes in waves
which spheres can't engage

all matter is dark
much smaller than quarks
charge comes on later
when newton's law mean greater...

clusters of matter
get fatter and fatter
and all that there is
is all that there was

there still remains one nuclear point
the source of which makes them anoint
their schrodinger wave equation
with no concern for external relation...

for spheres can never make a sphere
regardless of how they adhere
and even light is an agglomeration
that must shoot through holes in calibration

isaac was right in all that he said
'cept maybe one issue which is now dead
points in space are fixed in a grid
forever in place existing amid...

these clusters of mass
each on its path
though moved by no self thought
have always never forgot...

that though mass attracts mass
over distances vast
that close to another
charge starts to take over

from creation to einstein
there is a fine line
and of others i've spoke of
i don't make no joke of...

for this is my ode to descartes
to whom he owes a ceiling fly his start
and while he watched in fascination
he plotted its course by coordination

a tip of the hat
for doing that
but lets give him his due
for all that he knew
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