What creatures dream?

Close-up of M17 by the Hubble Space Telescope

 

What creatures dream?

 

     "...Breathe in the possibilities..."

 

What creatures dream on other worlds?

On planets born where matter swirls

With multi-moons and triple suns

With days like months and seasons none

 

What poetry and science there?

On lands most hot, where winds are rare

In frigid seas of nitrogen

When stars exhaust their hydrogen

 

And what, then, their philosophy?

With water a great rarity

When lava flows in fire falls

When life but lives in cavern halls

 

And what of worlds beyond our ken?

Existence with dimension ten

When time’s dimensions number two

Fate both before and after you

 

What poetry might be, my friend

On the sad worlds where time does end

With space dimensions less than three

Where physics can’t support a tree

 

Can you imagine such a world?

That chance into existence hurled

And though these worlds beyond me be

I prize their possibility

 

Do creatures dream on other worlds?

I think it so, when thoughts unfurl

And gazing up into the sky

It's awe of life that draws my sigh

 

 

 

©2008, Richard Puetter

All rights reserved

Featured in the online magazine "People Are Amazing", May 27, 2015--see http://people-are-amazing.com/what-creatures-dream/.

Author's Note

Dear Readers,

This poem, "What creatures dream", and me, the author, were featured on the on-line magazine "People Are Amazing" in June of 2015. Below is the article that appeared with the poem.

My best regards,

Rick

----- Magazine Article -----

This week I’ve been lucky enough to spend time with author and professional astronomer Richard Puetter. Richard, who was introduced to poetry at a young age by his father, admits that as he grew up, the fascinations with science and mathematics outstripped his ambitions as a writer, but in later years, as he sought to publish chapters of a fantasy novel he was working on, the lure of poetry was once again reinvigorated.

To me, Richard is a fascinating writer. He sees beyond a work’s potential to move people, and understands it’s potential to communicate. “While most poets would quickly agree that emotion is the fundamental part of writing poetry (and this is probably the motivation behind poetic writing), poetry itself speaks to the mind. It is language. If done properly it is the highest form of communication. But it is different than music or painting, for example. Those arts talk more directly to the pure emotional part of us. But poetry hits us without the need for sound and without visual input. It speaks to our minds, and the intellect then fires up the emotional being inside of us.”

Richard goes on to explain, “That is why unlike lots of other poets, I like to write pieces that are chock-full of facts, and in many of my pieces you’ll find pages of footnotes. I think this can fire up the mind all on its own, and then the poetic work can be seen on a broader canvas, which increases the emotional potential."

I like to think of Richard as a purist, a perfectionist, someone that’s always tinkering, perfecting, adapting. His writing is alive and evolving continuously as he grows, learns, reconsiders. Indeed he would tell you himself, “I think a poem is living art. It only is finished, at least for me, when the poet dies.” While I was talking with him, he pointed me to a quote attributed to noble laureate physicist Feyman.

“I have a friend who’s an artist, and has sometimes taken a view which I don’t agree with very well. He’ll hold up a flower and say “look how beautiful it is,” and I’ll agree. Then he says “I as an artist can see how beautiful this is, but you as a scientist take this all apart and it becomes a dull thing,” and I think that he’s kind of nutty. First of all, the beauty that he sees is available to other people, and to me too, I believe. Although I may not be quite as refined aesthetically as he is … I can appreciate the beauty of a flower. At the same time, I see much more about the flower than he sees. I could imagine the cells in there, the complicated actions inside, which also have a beauty. I mean it’s not just beauty at this dimension, at one centimetre; there’s also beauty at smaller dimensions, the inner structure, also the processes. The fact that the colours in the flower evolved in order to attract insects to pollinate it, is interesting; it means that insects can see the colour. It adds a question: does this aesthetic sense also exist in the lower forms? Why is it aesthetic? All kinds of interesting questions which the science knowledge only adds to the excitement, the mystery and the awe of a flower. It only adds. I don’t understand how it subtracts.”

This is the wonderful ability that Richard possess. He can see beyond the words of his poetry and communicate through his writing effectively and efficiently. He is able to write with inspiration in his words, inspiration that might awaken the hungry mind of a young reader to question the universe in which he or she lives. It is the ability to prompt the reader to ponder the presented facts, to mull over the concepts and ideas that lie within the writing. Richard’s ability to channel his own curiosity and share it with his readers is masterful and refreshing. It is the prime reason that I find myself fascinated and enchanted by his work, and am so excited to share it with our readers.

Richard Puetter is a prolific writer, not only of poetry, but of a whole array of stories, novels and books that will enthral and enchant you. If you’d like to know any more about Richard Puetter or follow him online, please use the links provided below.

Reviews

[Emily Rose]

I exist! And I really like this - it's great to ponder the existence of other worlds and other creatures on those worlds, especially for one so informed about science as yourself. Your knowledge really carries into your poetry!

I have some little things, of course. In your second stanza, "What poetry and science there" makes sense, but it's still a little unclear. Why not "is poetry and science there?" It would add a verb to the line, plus it makes it sound a bit more inquisitive. I would recommend a similar fix in the first line of the third stanza - "what, then, their philosophy" sounds a little more archaic than I think the tone really supports, so I would recommend "And what is their philosophy?" or "Do they know philosophy?" or something equally as inquisitive. Starting off with verbs, even if they aren't particularly strong verbs, is a great way to bring more clarity and focus to a line. I find the fifth stanza a little confusing as well; I think it's the question mark the throws me off, since it implies that I new idea is being started in the next line, when it's much more clear to read the lines together: "What poetry might be, my friend, in the sad worlds where time does end, with space demensions less than three, where physics cannot hold a tree?" (I must say, too, that the "physics cannot hold a tree" line strikes me as slightly out of place and more there for the sake of the rhyme scheme than anything else. I can see what you're doing with it; a tree couldn't very well exist in a two-demensional world, but even so, it seems a little random after you're talking about such a heavy subject as the destruction of time.)

The last stanza is wonderful, by the way, although (and I'm sure you knew I'd say this) I think adding more punctuation to the poem in general would make it much clearer. It's your choice, though. Well done as usual, Rick!

[Richard Williams]

This is a terrific poem, Rick, and the image of M-17 is so fitting. The flow and rhythm is right on. This reminds me of what Carl Sagan said, wondering about life on other worlds, like their philosophy. Indeed, the awe of life draws a sigh. This is connection with the cosmos, evocative and stirring.

[Mia]

I rarely think beyond this world, this is mine and matters most to me which I suppose is close minded of me. After reading this I though a little about it…with everything that exists, what we know and what we don’t…it seems almost crazy (and dare I say arrogant) to assume that we are ‘it’ in the universe.
My favourite lines…
“And gazing up into the sky
It's awe of life that draws my sigh”
And can I just say the picture you choose is incredibly beautiful!

[rankoranko]

great :D very nice indeed!

[F.Gentil]

Engaging read, nice flow, and ideas presented led me to ask a question. I am not sure your background, if your a scientist or what have you, but I am very curious about the nature of dreams and hallucinations (which I think is just a medical term that truly relates to spiritual visions). I ask this with the most sincerest curiosity because I have experienced visions in which I was present in a world beyond the one that is known, while no longer being a part of this world. I was physically awake, physically alert, visually and audibly aware. Yet, the environment was nothing like it is in the present world. These visual journey's alluded to certain changes, mores needed to be examined in our society today, and even abilities within the human psyche that one hasn't explored yet (flying, teleportation, increased technology, brainpower, understanding). With this said, what dimension would these ideas, these visual adventures lie on? What plane if any? I have been seeking out information since this happened to me, and I have not been able to find viable answers to these question. I have memories, vivid memories of a place I never visited. Quite a fascinating experience to say the least. Yet, for a logical human being, its somewhat alarming that there is no sure fit explanation that explains what exactly happened.

[Rick Puetter]

Dear F. Gentil,

I am an astrophysicist, with a specialty in infrared instrumentation, observations, and computational physics, at The Center for Astrophysics and Space Science, University of California, San Diego. I cannot say, of course, whether your experience, which I don't doubt that you had, had any basis in physical reality, but as a physical scientist I would tend to doubt it. I mean no disrespect, and will leave it at that, I did not experience this. You did.

Now, supposing this was real, what type of place might this be? Out of all the potential parallel Universes that physicist now feel may be possible given the richness of string theory, in nearly every single one of them you could not survive, and don't simply mean that you would die if you were transferred there. I mean that the physics of those Universes would not allow the atoms in your body to exist. So you simply could not be in those Universes. So you'd be restricted to a very narrow range of possible Universes. I would conclude that it would most likely be, in fact, just a different part of our Universe.

Now that's about as speculative as I can be, I think it unlikely because there is no obvious means of transportation to a different location. So I would conclude this was probably a vivid dream. I've had such dreams myself, but you, yourself, must be the ultimate judge of this. If this happens again, so careful notes and observations of what you see might be very helpful.

My very best regards, and thank you so much for your kind review.

Rick

[F.Gentil]

Well, thanks for responding. The mystery still continues.

[SyberRose]

I love the photo...I think you have to be a scientist to write about this M-17 as it is called...you did an amazing job Rick...sometimes I like to imagine other images in these Nasa type photos but I couldnt do it this time...just as you said "creatures"

[Rick Puetter]

Dear SyberRose,

Thank you for the kind review. You probably know this better as the Eagle nebula and from the now-famous Hubble picture:

http://d1jqu7g1y74ds1.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Gas-Pillars-in-the-Eagle-Nebula.jpg

Rick

[SyberRose]

Thank you Rick...yes the pillars are amazing.

[Mary]

excellent! I'm not a scientist, but a science teacher, and sometimes the beauty of the night sky has made me wonder the same thing. Other life forms gazing with wonder at the night sky. beautiful write! Poetry of the inhabitant of a two dimensional world might be pretty interesting.

[Allen Howard]

Very well written! This poem brings about many interesting thought about life on other planets. A true sci-fi writer, you are. (no Yoda intended)

Congratulations on First Place in the Sci-fi Poetry contest!!!

[BLBrown]

Rick - by the way, that picture from Hubble is amazing. So beautiful!

[BLBrown]

Rick,

What can I say about this that hasn't already been said? I loved reading it out loud, listening to your magic words sounding in my ears like a harp. The passion of this piece is amazing, and the way you converge art and science, as always, stuns the weary heart to sigh.

I was thinking self-awareness comes in here somewhere. In order to know of a dream, one must be able to recall it upon waking. In order to recall, one must have self awareness, to be of a superior intellect. I suppose their are animals that exist across the span of the Universe that dream, but they are not aware of it. I also wonder about those who have evolved to be aware of themselves and their dreams. You imply all of this here.

My favorite part is how you wrap time around itself with the words:

And what of worlds beyond our ken?
Existence with dimension ten
When time’s dimensions number two
Fate both before and after you

Ahhhh, that is so clever. And still, I'm not sure I understand all of it. But then again, I'm not an Astrophysicist who also happens to be a great poet.

I will read this again many times. First poem for my library!

Congrats on a beautiful and original poem!!

All the best,
Barbara

[Rick Puetter]

Dear Barbara,

I'm commenting on your review rather than sending a private e-mail, which is what I usually do, since I think others may be interested in the comments.

First, yes, I am mostly thinking of sentient beings when I say "creatures".

Now as to time with more than 1 dimension, that is a hard one for us with 1 time dimension to wrap our arms around. However, reality in other universes need not be restricted to a single dimension of time. If that's the case, I wanted to raise the possibility of an event already having happened in one time line, but yet to come in another, i.e., actually being both in the past and the future. So your fate being both behind and before you. It's like in space, you may have passed where an event occurred that was initially in front of you, but now behind you. But the event is still to your left, but will soon be on your right, i.e., behind you in one spatial dimension, but still before you in another. I know that's hard to imagine for us, but this could seem most natural in other Universes.

So these are just the musings of the physicist in me. Just letting people feel how strange existence can be and how other possibilities may never occur to us since they seem so strange.

Best regards,

Rick

[Marie]

Surely creatures dream on other worlds. Perhaps they havve other--or more--senses and can express themselves in more artistic forms than we have. Or think of the parallel worlds that resemble our own...what start out as a simple sentence on ours may expant to an entire book as it makes its way through the alternatives...

[Rick Puetter]

Hi Marie,

Yes, I agree with you. Generally our thoughts on what is possible are very limited. We need to expand our horizons.

Thanks for your words. They are most appreciated!

Best regards,

Rick