moving target

The Polish cavalry all died, of course,
when blitzkrieg blazed at will across their plain.
Machine guns devastated man and horse,
and Putin's sure his troops would do the same.
The Kremlin's propagandists strain to shift
the Nazi stigma of aggressive war.
Where journalists disdain to touch that shit,
just Tucker Carlson's Putin's eager whore.
Technology rolls on, with each defeat
as counter-counter measures swell the price.
Behemoths on steel treads look obsolete
like massive theropods pursuing mice.
The tanks that turned the tide at Marne, an Rhone
seem maladapted to this Age of Drone.

slipping away

Old moon's on point of getting overrun;
Her orbit's nothing like our spinning pace.
She's barely up when bleached out by the Sun;
We strain to glimpse her unillumined face.
A generation dazzled by bright lights
buys smart-phone apps to track elapsing days.
What had been patent any starry night,
now lies obscured in urban photo-haze.
Celestial clock displays both time, and date,
for those with opportunity to look.
Precise enough that one could navigate;
the heavens were sea-Captain's open book.
One's free to question if it's worth the cost
when so much had been gained, and so much lost.

when and where II

The 'Longitude Act' dangled the Crown's gold

for anyone who'd find a ship at sea.
For such a story to be fully told
clocks must compete against astronomy.
John Harrison's chronometer came through
a challenge to the gazers at the stars
for whom the only time-piece that is true
must use the moons of Jupiter or Mars.
'Til patents let the Market Forces drive
Invention languished, waiting for a prize.
Scant profit to make innovators thrive
until the law let them monopolize.
The first Tech Revolution was set free
by innovations starting in IP.       

Of Arms, and the Man

An Age before, a smith of Numenor
forged weapons to defy the Angmar king.
The writhen sword that Meriadoc bore
was fated for the battle of the Ring.
The lady Eowyn brought her own blade
unsuited to her brother's combat form.
No tales survive that tell where it was made
nor whether distaff combat was the norm.
The morgul-lord prefered to wield a mace
a brutish club of which he'd grown quite fond,
in tribute to another Age and place
when Morgoth swung the hammer known as "Grond".
Black powder makes its MiddleEarth debut,
but Tolkien's not enamored of what's new

exceptional

Recursions gave mishnaic rabbis pause;
such questions without answers just seemed wrong!
They sought a cosmos run by causal laws.
And so, they posit the first pair of tongs.
Created erev shabbos the first Week
to be discovered by a BronzeAge sage.
Full 14 billion years, word didn't leak
'til they're appropriate to Mankind's age.
Ten miracles, the text enumerates
that scientists are helpless to explain.
The manna, talking ass, or Korach's fate...
the best logicians spend their ink in vain.
Balaam's ass kept exalted company;
Jews hate exceptions to causality.

infrastructure

Cell-service revolutionized world trade
leapfrogging infrastructure that's not there.
Before an optic fiber cable's laid
the data's in the 'cloud, sent through thin air.
MaBell's a lap or more behind the pace.
As long as banks use checks inscribed in ink,
we're scarcely even players in this race; 
our global ranking's only gonna sink.
World economic order on its head.
The late adopters claim the top reward.
Our century of influence is dead, 
too late to cut the corporate 'phone cord.
Nigerians reap billions in sham deals;
Americans share photos of our meals.

perfect

sous-vide denatures proteins, each in turn
'though it won't sear a surface like hot coal
you're confident your meal will cook, not burn
the water-bath gives anyone control
the hydrophobic sidechains from inside
turned outward, make the proteins aggregate
for lack of chaperones, this colloid's fried
the moisture content's lost as exudate
the lambchops that a beaver couldn't chew
we pray are relegated to the past
they're now a trifle anyone can do
cosmetic grillmarks only added last
the water-oven's more than just a fad
it saves ingredients from going bad

first steps

the green light chlorophyl disdains to use
announces that our crops are in good health
but it's by sucking up the reds and blues
that it contributes to a farmer's wealth
two photons per electron share the weight
promoted out of water's cozy well
as waste, free oxygen to liberate
the quantum yield's not huge, but what the Hell
molecular machines are in the news
but--so far--there's less substance here than noise
compared to what a chloroplast would use
this Chemistry Nobel rewarded toys
before photovoltaics were the rage
a blue-green alga launched the solar age

geopolitics

the assets that gave Saudis global pull
now look, with passing time, to be unsound
our energy reserves may soon be full
while leaving gas and crude oil in the ground
we bid adieu to pistons and to steam
O brave new world! Petroleum's day's done
awakening from our smoke-darkened dream
empowered by the slowly fusing sun
capacitors may take the place of gas
if batteries can't give sufficient range
no matter what accelerates your mass
it's just the novelty that makes it strange
our generation teeters on the brink
of leaving sheikhs petroleum to drink

de re naturam

the Romans knew volcanic ash was key
to make cement that stands the test of time
that sets up hard on land, or under-sea
without the silicates, it's merely lime
that lore was lost for fifteen hundred years
cathedrals soar, but aren't weather-proof
staff masons keep up with the wear and tear
but it's a loss if you neglect the roof
petrology would catch up down the road
explaining how the crystal lattice binds
but brute empiricism bore the load
explaining aggregate in all its kinds
the best of Roman technology stands
the failures long since crumbled back to sands

early adopter

the Petrol Age is over, rest in peace
electric cars have fewer moving parts
with infrastructure, benefits increase
eftsoon, the quiet ride will win our hearts
no carbuerator, no gas tank, no clutch
the Tesla ought to be maintenance-free
but engineers love flashy toys too much
and gummed the X up with compexity
designers thought the gull-wings a sweet quirk
that proves it's more than just a mini-van
but drivers mostly want car doors that work
and not a frequent-flyer service plan
adopting early can exact a price
but none deny, the Tesla's awfully nice

what's lost, and what's imperishable

one Porlock merchant rapping at the door
destroyed the fabled walls of Xanadu
if he'd been there, the epic Trojan war
would have been won before the week was through
the story's grand because a ten-year siege
let Telemachos grow into a man,
Peleides to quarrel with his liege,
and--one by one--hew down grave Priam's clan
the Jericho pericope's too slight
to hold an audience for very long
but Homer kept his rapt through a fortnight
attentive to his many-textured song
that Porlock merchant died, and left no name
but literati never can forget
how Coleridge bequeathed him this small fame
for interrupting to collect a debt
a poet's wrath extends beyond the grave
when text he's entered's lost before it's saved

when and where

the Longitude Act dangled the Crown's gold
for anyone who'd find a ship at sea
for such a story to be fully told
clocks must compete against astronomy
John Harrison's chronometer came through
a challenge to the gazers at the stars
for whom the only time-piece that is true
must use the moons of Jupiter or Mars
'til patents let the Market Forces drive
Invention languished waiting for a prize
scant profit to make innovators thrive
until the law let them monopolize
the first Tech Revolution was set free
by innovations starting in IP       

HAL

the Internet-of-Things empowers spies
to penetrate our hedges and our walls
PoliceStates see the prospect as a prize
reducing citizens to helpless thralls
my toaster and my 'fridge don't need to know
who happens to be sleeping in my bed
if we're not free in how we come and go
we've turned the power-structure on its head
the private sphere's not for the FBI
to build their databases and log-books
they need a warrant if they mean to pry
into our lives as if we were all crooks
if we're to be the masters of our fate
we've got to shut this down ere it's too late

whose tools

an Internet-of-Things would be a boon
to spies who don't care for your privacy
by putting microphones in ev'ry room
they'd mock the notion of Land of the Free
if George III commanded such a tool
the Colonies would still by in his fist
no matter how unjust might be his rule
there'd be no way the People could resist
"Leviathan" taught us we need a State
to keep our baser passions well in hand
but still left room that we could legislate
some Civil Liberties throughout the Land
once SkyNet's integrated in each home
our dreams of Liberty collapse like foam

archipelago II

each one an island staring at his screen
although they're side by side on the same node
you're never gonna socialize that teen
until he learns to court as well as code
technology can hinder or advance
one's integration in the larger world
but keyboard's can't connect one to romance
or teach one how to woo a pretty girl
a child should move beyond parallel play
to integrate a school- and work- cohort
to care what someone else has got to say
builds teams for life no less than teams for sport
to meet at least one other face-to-face
is still the way to propagate the race   

archipelago

each one an island staring at his screen
although they're side by side on the same node
you're never gonna socialize that teen
until he learns to court as well as code
pornography stands in for social life
although he feels the urge to find a  mate
he lacks the skill to someday get a wife    
but gets the latest apps to masturbate
a child should move beyond parallel play
to integrate a school- and work- cohort
to care what someone else has got to say
builds teams for life no less than teams for sport
to meet at least one other face-to-face
is still the way to propagate the race   

Time

'til Harrison's chronometer came through
a sailor on the seas could only know
his latitude but not his longitude
or how much farther he might have to go
the moons of Jupiter can work on land
but they're too rarely glimpsed when one's at sea
the function of a watch's second-hand
is better served by Swiss horology
'til then, sea-routes were mostly laid due-West
to strike a landmark then trace down the coast
and even when one knew where winds were best
he dared not plot a course to get the most
a world with GPS can't realize
what Harrison produced to claim his prize