Eleanor Wong (b. 1962)
SELECTED POEMS
Second Law of Thermodynamics
I had always thought
the relative evenness of
our emotional topography
a sign of order
of as-it-should-be-ness.
A structured state
propped up, stopped in by constant application of filial energy.
Only to lately learn
(reading a pop physics primer)
that the direction of entropy
dissipates towards homogeneity
disorder emerges without visible mess
more heat being required
to fuel a beat of singular stand-out-ness than a lifetime of regularity.As we sat watching you tell tales with undisguised pride
I wondered where
that child you held now hides.
And then I understood
the energy it takes
just after the creation
to let it go
expel it in one breath
cooling into clumpy calm.
Chaos. Disorder.
My father. Fiery after all.
by Eleanor Wong
from Life~Science (2010)
