Jerry Whalley Poet Limerick

Aha: a Poetic Noetic Instantiation In Three Acts

Aha: a Poetic Noetic Instantiation in Three Acts

rushing inference, imminent insight
suddenly it’s clear, a gut feeling—
      swooning, reeling,
cross-connected hemispheres
syncopated, reverberated, totally aware

open byways, ahh blue-sky days, making up my mind
synapses shiver, axons quiver, dendrites deliver,
’lectrik neurons fire—suddenly—in time

aha! aha! oh gawd I see—I ran around ’n cried—
a fool I’ve been; all along it’s there, right in front of me

with a grin ’n a nod ’n twinkly-looking ’round
raised my arms ’n slapped my thighs
’n made a ruckus sound—

donned my hat ’n set it skewed
upon my big bright head,
set off to town in an uplifted mood,
while whistling a sweet sound—
forgot what I had found

#

there’s a hole in my head
where the wounds of reason seep;
all words are dead inside my head—
what’s left is dark ’n deep

@

I’ll always live
     and always die
          on the event horizon
               of my mind’s eye,
               where the flash
          of neuronal fires
     flowers into
sudden epiphany— --

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Jerry Whalley February 9, 2026 at 12:16 PM "Aha" is a sophisticated exploration of the bridge between neurology and mysticism. The poem’s structure - moving from the chaotic firing of the "cross-connected hemispheres" to the quiet, dark depth of the "event horizon" - effectively captures the physical and metaphysical experience of a breakthrough. The quantification of sound devices reveals a deliberate use of sibilance and plosives to mimic the electric nature of thought.

Jerry Whalley September 1, 2025 at 9:53 PM This Poem is a guide for the soul. It shows that the path to truth involves the ecstatic joy of discovery, the courageous silence of letting go, and the wisdom to live peacefully at the very edge of the great mystery.

Jerry Whalley February 25, 2010 at 11:50 AM my youtube rendition in animation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOwgE18iuUQ

Nadia Shahwan April 21, 2009 at 10:59 AM Beautiful. Find a musician; you can sing it. All the best.

Dane Ann Smith-Johnsen March 26, 2009 at 4:01 PM I love the way you started out using sophistocated-scientific descriptions and brought it down to something easily forgotten. Then, the disambiguate and ambiguate writes brought it full circle with ...where the flash of neronal fires flower into sudden infinity...and there you go again with that complex thinking. ..an eternal circle of intelligence. I enjoyed it...

Carolyn Devonshire March 25, 2009 at 4:51 PM "Open byways, ahh, blue sky days," Wow, Jerry. Excellent use of language, rhyme and imagery. I can almost hear this as a song!