Uncertainty

The universe is undefined within consciousness 

A rudimentary observation of the unseen 

An imagined ideal of flow 

Yet the river is ice and the water does not flow 

So infinite that it’s waters cannot be defined 

Where ripples form slices of time

 

Oh, how infinite the potential 

The waters may be ice but the ship may sail 

A ship of soul bound within reality 

A ship bound to infinite realities but separate 

A constant governing law which craves attention 

A separation of ideal, only to delve into unknown 

 

But the ship may still sail on winds of light  

Tidally locked to a throne of gravity 

Locked to the great fire from whence all life exists 

Bound in the void of darkness 

The silence is shattered only by thought 

So strides forth the laws of man 

 

The great halo of heaven does not break 

The dawning stars but echoes 

And fire is their embrace 

But the river is ice and the water does not flow 

And dimensionality is but a matter of debate 

But the ship may still sail on winds of light 

 

So map out reality as we do 

But time is a function of velocity and space 

Hence existed, exists and will exist 

And a fundamental exception to all exists 

A bridge from one point to another 

And an every expanding function of reality 

 

And so fellow traveler 

Do you see how complex it all is? 

How complex you are? Oh dearest soul 

How may you journey? 

How may you navigate? 

How may you live? 

 

But take heed oh dearest soul 

For light is not infinite and darkness but a concept 

As even the greatest devourer may fall silent 

And his throne will dissipate into all time 

All that will be seen is an echo of what once was 

The blinking of reality 

 

The ship may sail on winds of light 

But the compass is not always certain 

And the ocean is dimensionless and stormy 

Bound by a single constant  

Beware her inky depths 

For the chaos of potential is her calling 

 

And so fellow traveler 

I will seek you as you seek me 

With sails full of Phoenix’s light and storms ahead 

The ship was made for this, have no fear 

Take my hand in embrace 

For the journey has just begun 

Tristan Barnard

BSc Wood & Wood Product Science,
STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY

Uncertainty derives it’s name from the Uncertainty Principle in Quantum Physics as well as the uncertainty that can be felt in the face of the unknown while journeying through the ocean that is life. The poem plays off of ideas from science such as gravity, time, black holes, etc. and spines them into how a journey may be fraught with danger, stress and complexity but that in itself is to be alive and to be beautiful. I also personally liked the idea of two souls seeking each other out over vast distances based on the romanticised idea of belonging together for all time as reflected towards the end of the poem

Illustration done by Neil Mellet

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