Broken Symmetry

Rainbow

11 Rainbow “There฀is฀no฀precise฀date฀at฀which฀mythology฀gave฀way฀to฀science.” —Carl฀B.฀Boyer,฀The฀Rainbow:฀From฀Myth฀to฀Mathematics So฀science฀is฀the฀bully฀on฀the฀playground, the฀guy฀who฀says฀Babe฀Ruth฀was฀just a฀drunk,฀the฀kid฀who฀rolls฀his฀eyes the฀day฀the฀trees฀all฀bud.฀You฀know฀elves live฀under฀your฀porch,฀that฀God฀loves puppets,฀that฀the฀wind฀comes฀from฀a฀witch’s cave,฀and฀birds฀sing฀just฀to฀sing.฀What฀if Wordsworth,฀strolling฀along฀the฀lakes, had฀looked฀up,฀taken฀out฀his฀pen,฀and฀speculated how฀the฀color฀came฀from฀light฀refracted through฀the฀drops฀of฀rain฀that฀formed around฀some฀dust?฀And฀what฀if฀Noah,฀crazed with฀the฀smell฀of฀dung,฀the฀impatience฀of฀every creature฀on฀the฀earth,฀what฀if฀this฀wild฀builder of฀faith,฀when฀he฀saw฀that฀covenant฀of฀color draping฀over฀his฀mad฀zoo,฀had฀tried฀to฀tabulate the฀cubits฀in฀the฀rainbow’s฀length,฀forgetting about฀the฀dove,฀the฀olive฀branch,฀dry฀land? And฀what฀do฀we฀make฀of฀Philip,฀Plato’s฀lessthan -certain฀pal?฀He฀scribbled฀in฀his฀notebook that฀the฀rainbow฀wasn’t฀stable฀after฀all;฀it฀moved as฀the฀observer฀moved฀and฀somewhere over฀the฀rainbow฀was฀farther฀away than฀any฀bluebird฀could฀ever฀fly. So฀if฀science฀is฀as฀uncertain as฀tomorrow’s฀weather,฀I฀think฀I’ll฀say 12 the฀rainbow,฀like฀most฀everything—this poem,฀elephants,฀the฀hurricane฀along the฀Georgia฀coast,฀my฀daughter’s฀scribbled chalk฀across฀the฀sidewalk—is฀not฀just฀one฀more worn,฀anonymous฀effect฀in฀cause’s฀long฀and flagrant฀history.฀I’ll฀say฀the฀rainbow฀simply comes.฀Light฀may฀bend,฀reflect,฀refract, but฀why฀then฀color?฀Why฀Mozart from฀a฀catgut฀string?฀And฀why฀this฀morning, when฀I฀saw฀that฀we฀were฀out฀of฀coffee, did฀I฀look฀up฀and฀see฀you฀in฀the฀garden, staking฀our฀tomatoes฀in฀the฀rain? ...