Painting Rainbows

"What do you think was the salient feature of the rainbow
that inspired Descartes's mathematical analysis?
I would say he thought rainbows were beautiful.”

- Dr. Richard Feynman

It’s said “you can’t fool Mother Nature”
yet - what fools she makes of us
that we should somehow come to think
that we could paint a rainbow with our words

She tricks us with the colors of Spring
the delightful beauty of things that
send us off in search of words
that we might capture beauty herself

Like catching sunbeams in a jar
racing near and far with gleeful joy
through the meadows of our mind
that we might find a pot of gold

What fools indeed - fools gold
at the end of a painted rainbow
but happy fools that need no other reason
than ‘tis the season for foolish things.

And I would surely be a fool
should I ignore but one more day
the elusive beauty of a rainbow
that I might paint in words.


d;-)

I think it was from a Feynman book that I learned that no two people can see the same rainbow. My own short verse, then, has the same source of inspiration as your own.

My Rainbows by NoStar

What a beautiful sight
This refracted sunlight

Since the light in my eye
No one else can espy

Every rainbow I see
Belongs solely to me!

d;-)

Damn right! And the sky-version has nothing on morning dew, snail tracks, or even the bubblaise of one's own spittal. World amply demonstrates that there is more pyrite than actual gold.

Carpe Verve

I think Feynman would certainly agree with you - and like your take on rainbows. Feynman, like many great and curious minds, was also a poet. O have posted some of his poetry in the past. Of what he's said, I like this perhaps the best after his thoughts on rainbows -

You can know the name of a bird
in all the languages of the world, but
when you're finished, you'll know
absolutely nothing whatever
about the bird . . .

So let's look at the bird and see
what it's doing -- that's what counts.
I learned very early the difference between
knowing the name of something
and really knowing something.

TAP

d;-)

And the morning dew
the bubblaise of spittal
and even snail tracks
reflect more eloquently
the beauty of Nature
far better than
our meager attempts|
to capture them
in a cage of words
but still we foolishly try.

d;-)

Great job Denny.

“Just repeating what I heard”

(With apologies to Rabbit and Joe for skipping some threads ahead)

I will joyously join in with the imaginary seals in this real garden and trust I don’t offend the gods.

Feynman was a “pseudo intellectual” whale, in academic waters, from Cal Tech, chalk full of pseudo pods.

Zero Errors And Misunderstanding

My poem riposte is “about poems and poets”. There are no seals, no gardens, no whales, no Cal Tech; though my dog did climb trees there…and played in the fountain.

The problem with Zero Errors And Misunderstanding was clear noted by Einstein -

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."

NO - give me a life FULL of mistakes. Let me learn all the lessons that life has to teach. Let my scars remind me of the journey. Let them be sign posts that mark my progress. Let my life ever be "A smile and a tear"

I would not trade
One sorrow of my heart
For all the laughter of a lifetime.
Not one tear would I want to lose
For yet another smile.
I would that my life remain,
A smile and a tear.

It is my tears that cleanse my soul
Wash away the pain
To purify my heart and
Give me understanding
Of the hidden things of life.

I’d rather know the pain
Of too much understanding
To know the sweetness of the heart
Than to die weary and despairing.
I want to hunger for beauty and love
Have it seek the depths of my spirit
That my tears of sorrow should become
The joy of understanding.

Let me hear the sighs
Of yearning and longing.
And let the smile on my face
Be a sign of my joyful existence.
A smile and a tear.

Kahlil Gibran

Very nice one especially

That my tears of sorrow should become
The joy of understanding

Positive magentic notion!!

Thank you

That of course is by Kahlil Gibran, one of my two favorite "mystical" poets, along with the 13th century Persian Sufi poet Mowlana Jalaluddin Rumi. Two other poems you might enjoy . . .

Life and Death

Kahlil Gibran

If you would understand the spirit of death
then you must seek it in the heart of life
for life and death are one

Neither can exist without the other
and it is the presence of death
that gives urgency to life

Your fear of death
is but the trembling of your soul
as it stand naked before your Creator

And what is it to die
but to stand formless in the wind
and melt into eternity

To free your breath from its restless tides
and let the earth claim your limbs
that you might dance on the hill tops.

******************

Secrets

Jelaluddin Rumi

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell
Don't go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth
across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don't go back to sleep.

d;-)

Life's Adventure

You ask me what I know of life,
what hardships have I seen.
Have I known what sorrow is
or felt the loss of dreams ?

Yes, I've seen such thing,
had them wrench and tear my heart.
I've known despair and loneliness
that tore my soul apart.

I used to sit and dream of life
and all the thing I'd do.
Of how I'd make my mark on Earth
when all my dreams came true.

I'd curse the way that people were
and how they'd ruined my plans.
I vowed that I would never be
like every other man.

But those were only dreams of mine
that let me pass each day.
of boring sameness and regret
that things had gone this way.

I lacked the courage to strike out
on a pathway still unknown
to accept the challenge ahead of me....
until I could be shown

That it was safe to go that way
for fear I'd somehow fail.
And so I stayed the way I was
in my self-created jail.

And in my hour of deepest grief
when death was at my hand,
I stopped, and took a step aside
and looked back at this man

Who chose to see the darker side
of things that came his way.
And chose to walk in shadows
and let darkness fill his day.

Like shadows cast upon the ground
by mortals such as we
that lengthen as the day goes on
so with our misery.

Yet if there be shadows
so also is there light.
‘Tis ours to choose which one we see,
upon which we fix our sight.

And now I know that life is full
when fears are overcome;
that boredom is the net result
when things are left undone.

That failure is a part of life
when first we test our wings.
Yet if we are to learn to fly
we must accept such things.

And set our course upon a star
that well beyond our reach.
And learn the lessons during life
that experience can teach.

Carpe Diem

d;-)