WHAT MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND?
by
JONATHAN VOS POST
Skidding and spinning to Physics class on my motorcycle
to study the kinematics of rotation
thinking: all rotation is revolutionary.
I am getting a new angle on everything, and the symbol
is a small-case theta, which looks like a wheel
seen at an oblique angle, turning on its axis.
Twist the accelerator grip on the handlebars
and feel the torque: the moment of force
my turn signal arm become a lever arm.
Listening to the engine's organ tones as Bach, listening
for the center of mass; Yoga on a Yamaha; the moment of inertia
"the still point of the turning world."
I feel I am standing still, the Earth spinning below me
like a giant gyroscope, the entire galaxy
"like a prayerwheel in a whirlpool."
The day draws towards its omega; I hear the cheerleaders
sing out: "What makes the world go round?"
the crowd replying: "angular momentum!"
1440-1510
4 Dec 78
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