“The Astrophysicist and the Mathematician” – Hannah Wetzel

“The Astrophysicist and the Mathematician”
 
If somehow stars were landmarks, and the universe an old gambling town
Mercury is the motel we always drove past but never stayed in
I like to think of the way that trees grow, and how we all decompose into nothing but the soil – but most of the time
you tell me I’m indulgently metaphysical.
Though I know you’d only learnt that word last week.
The other day there was a boy, standing out in the storm.
He turned to me and said “Why are we all here? But because we like the way the rain hits the ground”
So matter of fact was he, that I began to ponder where I’ve been.
How I’ve lost microseconds just switching between the channels playing on my subconscious.
Maybe that’s where the time went
I’ve often pondered what would happen if I stepped out of my body
But here in the frigid winter is the realisation
That from the very rickets of my being
Up to the fragile lines of the mosaics on my fingers
I would simply break
Into blossom
Now I think back to you, leaning against the counter in my kitchen
Resting your hands just a little too close to the stove
My god, you really did look wonderful
Though but a metre from you,
There’s salt in the sugar bowl
The tea’s gone cold
And we don’t listen the same music anymore.
But in some ways I do hope you keep me
As the familiar creak in your floorboards
 
Hannah Wetzel
Year 13
Kaitaia College