Denmark’s war
When the Germans occupied Denmark during World War 2 the old king was not dethroned
Every morning, he was seen riding in the park
Once, when his horse was spooked, by two German soldiers. he fell off his horse but got up
He dusted himself off, mounted his stead, rode on
The occupier thought his presence was good for morale, keeping the people passive
It was difficult to be a resistant fighter there was no place to hide after all Denmark is nothing more than a gigantic sandbank
The story of the king could have been written
by Hans Christian Andersen his work has been translated into my languages
We must not forget the physicist Niels Bohr who contributed to the understanding of nuclear power
There are many more names but this is not a list of great achievements
Denmark survived the war by not being overly aggressive making the enemy feel at ease
The farmers farmed, and fishermen fished so much that when peace, came they could help
Norway who faced starvation
Reality doesn't exist until it is observed or measured
……Quantum Theory
When it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry.”
……Niels Bohr
I am not sure if it matters
but there is a solace
in the ritual of finding words
to fit the shapes and shadows
that rise like bubbles in the mind,
to hold them before they burst
and become what's left behind.
It's hard to figure out
and sometimes all you can do
is to hang on for the ride.
This morning was like this,
delicately balanced on a breath.
But it was me who was a bubble
waiting for lips to give me a name,
uncertainty gathered
into a floating ball looking
for a shape to fit, something solid,
a chance for me
to become altogether real.
I felt brittle, about to be timed out,
a fragile thought slowly unraveling
in a waking brain. I was neither
alive nor dead, but a shadow
held in the in-between
until some caring soul
cast a glance and fixed
this fuzzy ball of chance
within a world of reality
where I fell, once more,
mortally into me.
Whether you’re on the side of Love—
With Buddha, Sankara and Husserl,
Or on the side of Suspicion—
With Nietzsche, Freud and Bloom,
The principle of complementarity
Works for you,
As for Paul Ricœur
And for Niels Bohr.
You’re a participant observer,
Influencing the world,
Like the physicist,
Influencing the behavior of quanta,
Like the girl in a glass chamber,
Influencing the behavior
Of the vipers and cobras around,
Like the deconstructionist,
Influencing the behavior of the sign.
— Ram, R. V.
Bore Thoughts Galore
Niels Bohr
Studied physics and bore thoughts galore.
During war, our allies and we were calm.
His models were the bomb!
© Dane Ann Smith-Johnsen
January 22, 2010
Poetic form: Clerihew
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