the reality of a chance

Poem #181 from a series of poems drawn from the imagination and collected as: a Bachelard reverie.

Back to Bachelard and me – Introduction

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he was interested
in reality

thought it
provocative

he would list his observations
one-by-one
through the day
each detailed
on a block of lined paper

sometimes a line
or two

sometimes
a whole page

and in the evening
when his day
of observation
was done
he took chalk
in hand
to confront
his black-painted board

and began to work

for every observation
drawn from reality
he devised
he reduced
he expanded
multiplied
divided

an equation

a formula

by mathematics
by algebra
he disassembled the world
to its functioning elements

theoretically

and established
to his satisfaction
how reality
that strange sequence
of things
of events and occurrences
that comprised his life
could happen

once

what probability
they might occur
again

a second time

at the end of the evening
while dusting his board
clean of the chalk

he wondered
in a small tradition
he had developed

what chance
he might have

of miss
amelia jones saying yes
if he asked her
to join him
for afternoon tea

a scone
jam
and cream

in the tea shop

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© Frank Prem 2018

Bachelard and me Poem #182: how long does it take