Meerwasser brennt

Simon Rella

Ich öffne die Augen und
Meerwasser brennt.
Selbst dann,
wenn ich
siebentausendsiebenundfünfzig Meter
tief tauche,
oder versuche,
an nichts zu denken.

Wo einst Bartwürmer wucherten,
im Schlot eines toten Rauchers,
heute zerfressen von Linealen und Walzen,
brüten bereits Dämonen ihre
Nachkommastellen.

Auf Tempelwandresten schreibe ich:
“Eine Pfeife ist kein Ising Modell”
Und predige:

Zwischen Liebe und Tod
bleibt uns nur der Blick zu den Sternen,
und der Geschmack von Meer,
denn der Sterne höhnisches Jubeln
verbietet uns die Einsamkeit.

The Science

The poem plays with the fact that "independence" is impossible. We are in constant interaction with the world and from a quantum physics point of view share a wave function even with the most distant (visible) stars. In a sense we are somehow locked in this wave function, similarly as a gut bacterium is locked in your body. Whether we like that or not, we have to live with this fact. This requires questioning our mathematical models, which often abstract away the complexity of interaction, and compassion with other forms of being.

Vocabulary clarifications: Wigner’s Friend, is a thought experiment, in which the observing experimenter is conceived as part of the quantum mechanical set up. Quantum mechanical states are denoted by so called Kets: | ... >. Bartwürmer (Dt.), Siboglinidae, are a family of marine invertebrates comprising giant tube worms, a symbiotic life form living close to deep sea hydrothermal vents (smokers). Laplace’s Demon is a hypothetical being that knows the exact mechanical state of a chaotic system, allowing it to make 100% accurate predictions. Finally, the Ising Model, is a simple mathematical model often applied to complex systems, animate and inanimate alike.

The Poet

Simon Rella decided to love. Science, ants, the mountains of Austria and his friends. His research revolves around the evolution of multicellularity and pathogens.

Next poem: Paradigm Shift by Stephen Drane