Spectrophotometry, return edit

[rayheinrich]

SPECTROPHOTOMETRY

Only a matter of time...

A column of light
broken by streaks of blackness
well-measured,
each interrupting
band a disappointment,
a disease,
a death in the family
--traces of lead, silver, cinnabar--
with the whole being
just a perfect circle's arc
pressed and stretched
into this pillar
for the viewer's convenience.

Not even
the subtlest implication
of the circle must exist--
light is a line, not a wheel,
and the dutiful scholar
asks no questions.
Today must become yesterday, as
tomorrow becomes today,
and the dates on the calendar transform
into memories, stories
warped for the message,
marks on the line graph.

So our tests on experience
yield no statistically relevant results.
Try again,
if you can.

I'd eliminate the last four lines as this summation dilutes an otherwise "absorbing" poem.

Logically cohesive poems, especially ones using scientific metaphors, are difficult to write.
While the potential audience is narrowed to those either knowledgeable of the material or
willing to spend the time (GIYF) to learn it, the complexity of the beauty is well worth it.

A deeply effective and affecting poem,
Ray