Q and A ON N.O.T.H.I.N.G.
American theoretical physicist, Richard Feynman, d. 1988, provided my inspiration for the Exposition in the following sonnetina. Feynman who is known for his work in quantum mechanics, and particle physics, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965. My maternal grandfather provided his Irish folk wisdom when I said I was doing nothing, he said, “couldn’t be less.” The 1960’s proto punk, freak rock group from the lower East Side of NYC, called the Fugs, provided a tragic/comic satiric litany for the Recapitulation. Zen thoughts on nothingness and French existentialist philosopher Jean Paul Sartre’s book, “Being and Nothingness” helped me as well. Currently I am reading “A Universe from Nothing, Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing” by Lawrence M. Krauss. It has caused me to reflect on the duality of spacetime curvature and a flat universe side by side with quantum mechanics and entanglement. Many 21st century cosmologists, astrophysicists, and inflation theory followers think the universe is expanding into nothingness.
EXPOSITION
Richard Feynman used to like to go up to people and say, “You won’t
believe what happened to me today! You just won’t believe it!” And when
they would inquire what happened he would say, “Absolutely nothing!”
DEVELOPMENT
N. no non nay nil nada negativity, nevermore, never again, not possible
O. on and on open origin, objectives, occasional open-door policy, open up
T. to through time, times tables, to hell and back, towards telescopic heaven
H. has had have here held high in heaven, hell no! hello how are you happy?
I. I am, ie. intelligence intellect introspection, Ai yi yi yi corazón, imagine
N. next to nothing, no way Jose, nothing doing, nonexistent, Isaac Newton
G. gigantic genius greater and less than gravity genuine Googleplex grit
I. information highway A.I. ignorance initiation invitation into intelligence
S. so what? sure as shooting sometimes slowly sliding into super symmetry
L. letting go towards leaving losing living on leftover love and laughter
E. egging on, eating air, eliminating egotistic empires, egregious eruptions
S. so now what? standing still still standing standing alone dark star stuff
S. sometimes slowly some kind of sincere supercalifragilsticexpialidocius.
RECAPITULATION
Selected lyrics from The Fugs 1965 song ‘NOTHING’
“Monday nothing, Tuesday nothing Wednesday and Thursday nothing Friday for a change A little more nothing Saturday once more nothing. Sunday nothing…” (the same lyrics above were then sung in Spanish and in German). More lyrics continue, “January nothing February nothing March and April May and June A lot more nothing July nothing.” There are also political lyrics which negate both American and Communist politicians, specific calendar years, academic subjects, music, poetry, etc. By now you get the picture. Basically, the song is a litany of negatives, a chant proclaiming that everything is “nothing.”
Joey aka “Pepe Batbon” Connolly is a retired educator who taught in the CNMI, NOLA, and LVNV. He is the Poet Laureate of Tinian and enjoys stargazing.
