The 2nd Law - Sept 4 2021

 

The 2^nd Law

Sept 4 2021

The human body

is hotter than the sun.

Pound for pound, that is,

our flesh and blood

the sun's fuel.

So we burn like solar furnaces,

nuclear fusion

in the heart of stars

and body heat at rest,

blazing hotter

than the most massive objects in the universe.

This is how exceptional we are,

expending heat to grow cells

make complex molecules

create abstract thought.

So as the cosmos inexorably cools

and declines into disorder,

we disobey the rule of thermodynamics

and hold off decay.

For a few decades of life, at least.

We may slow down

lose strength

get old and stooped and grey

and definitely more jaded,

but still manage to suspend

the 2^nd law.

Suspend, not evade,

because as it inevitably does

time corrupts.

Because we are made of stardust

and will return to it.

But for now

we are small celestial objects

much like fallen stars;

meteorites

after a long difficult passage,

irregularly shaped

and with all our minor imperfections and hidden flaws

beneath the fused surface,

just trying to keep warm

down here on planet earth.