Spacetime

   Spacetime     by Miroslav Holub (1932-1998)

   When I grow up and you get small,
   then --

   (In Kaluza's theory the fifth dimension
   is represented as a circle
   associated with every point
   in spacetime)

   -- then when I die, I'll never be alive again?
                         Never.
   Never never?
                         Never never.
   Yes, but never never never?
                         No . . . not never never never,
                         just never never.

   So we made
   a small family contribution
   to the quantum problem of eleven-dimensional
        supergravity.

"Spacetime" (translated by David Young and Dana Habova) is taken from Intensive Care: Selected and New Poems (FIELD Translation Series 22, Oberlin College Press 1996).   For additional poetry by Czech poet and scientist Miroslav Holub, you may visit these 2010 postings: December 9,  August 19, April 28, and March 30.