"Surface Tension" by R L Swihart

An old poem of mine that my AI kicked up tonight (from my book Matman & Testudo): "Surface Tension." I had almost forgotten it.

LAUSD was "restructuring" and my principal said, "Don't worry, you'll land somewhere. You're a good teacher." I landed somewhere, then somewhere else. Etc. Stressful but fun -- exploring many places I had no idea about, even teaching some simple science.

Anyway, here's the poem (inspired by my drive in the morning, over the two bridges to and through San Pedro CA).


Surface Tension

If the paperclip doesn’t float on the water’s surface, first lay a thin piece of paper on the water, then lay the clip gently on the paper

*

He’s not drowning. The nearest body of water is the bottle of water in the back of the car, wedged between two Blue Ice Blocks in his Igloo. Still, he sits behind the wheel taking in little fish gulps, as though staving off the big gulp that would take him under 

* 

The way to his new job takes him over two bridges. The name of the first bridge escapes me; some have tagged the second Suicide Bridge. As he drives over the second bridge he looks for the spot where the suicide would’ve climbed up, but of course he sees nothing. He imagines what he read, i.e. that the suicide didn’t hesitate. He imagines that he clambered up near the second tower, because that would’ve put him directly over the water

*

Figueroa. Florence. Canterbury Knolls. The Miracle Center. The True Rock 

* 

Save her. Save him

* 

In another experiment the sun extracts fresh water from salt water. After several hours in full sun, the water condenses on the bottom of the plastic wrap and falls into a ceramic cup  

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