Albert Ascends a Bus

by Larry Chamberlin   Sep 9, 2015


"The preciousness lies
in the lonely mind of man."
- John Steinbeck

He steps from the curb
unsuspecting the blow to come.
He reaches and grasps
the handrail, prepares
to lift his body onto the bus,
and freezes in mid-step,
his mind detached
no longer on the street,
but racing toward
the speed of light,
gaining mass -
a juggernaut of enlightenment,
as time slows to a near halt,
his light particulates,
his energy transforms
into the stuff that matters,
knowing is complete
and his foot sets down
on the step
and he lifts the human race
onto the bus
and his smile twitches
his mustache just so.

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Latest Comments

  • 9 years ago

    by Mr. Darcy

    Hello Larry,

    this made me smile. If I had a 'tache it would have twitched.

    I am glad you explained this poem, however, most work that is symbolic allows the reader to project their own interpretation.

    I like the way you aptly distort the speed vs time effect, allowing this reader to become displaced within matter, in the moment where the light bulb ignites.

    Nominated in the here and now, or is that in the here, there and everywhere?

    Take care,

    Michael

  • 9 years ago

    by Larry Chamberlin

    This poem is actually based on an apocryphal story that merges Einstien's break though in the formulation of the Special Theory of Relativity with the mathematician, Poincare', who intuitively grasped the solution to a problem in the manner described above. Einstein's insight came while riding a street car and seeing the Bern clock tower as several buses entered the station.
    However, the image of discovery was so powerful that I took Napoleon's advice while writing a slanted view of his military campaigns: "Ah, but it Should have happened that way!"

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