By Noel Ihebuzor
Haiku on True
True speaks not false nor
fake, voice genuine to self and
you, clear, clean and real
Opposite of false,
true stands upright, shiny bright
while false falls in slime
the false , with time, drinks
shame; the true with time flowers
petals blooming proud
By Noel Ihebuzor
When we love, we roll
wrap and reap, when love goes, we
rip, rant and regret
When we love, the sun shines
cool calm blue, humming magic
hearts glow, beings vibrate
When love goes, glow fades
blues come, gloom sings, hurting hearts
pull back, pain throbbing
By Noel Ihebuzor
Wisdom, better than
gold and silver, yet harder
to learn and apply
deep, broad, growing with
use, blossoming spread frees
minds from green bias
Just wonderful!
By Noel Ihebuzor
Life as lived unity
Life lives, breathes and shimmers as one
straddling frames and fields
defying puny encapsulation and attempts
to frame it in packets and pockets of
disparate silos by all knowing experts of life and knowledge
The headache, the heart that hurts
the aching tooth, the limping male
the faulty erection, the cutting tongue,
the poisoned fist, the knowing wink
All are biology, theology, psychology and sociology
economics, mathematics and physics
philosophy and politics fused
presenting as one seamless affirmation of being
flowing interlinked and defying our knowledge boundaries and silos
In our quest to know,
we now crawl on knowledge frontiers we drew
isolating, magnifying detail and specks
deepening, tunnelling with absorbing fixity
never remembering to put them back again
ignoring organic essentials,
confusing parts for whole, minutiae an obsession
missing thus the deep truth, that life
is about unity, a mosaic bathed in diversity
but blended in wholeness
a wholeness which our un-whole methods
drowned in singular vision make us miss
*** This poem celebrates the successful completion of a project with my duet partner, the wonderful multi-talented poet SLD, where we explored the application of physics to life and living and discovered in the process that subject boundaries were not as rigid as we had imagined. Rather we found a certain fluidity and an epistemic universe without borders! This song is my effort to say that and came to me after I uploaded the last in our series of Fizzy feeloig and fuzzy physics. Enjoy!
By Noel A. Ihebuzor and Susan L. Daniels
In every straight and curving path of life
the interaction of opposites flows, friction,
its opposition
a delicate assurance of traction,
resistance and grip, always present
allows us to stand and move
same resistance slows and stops us
allowing motion, yet retarding it
the rasp of surface against surface,
smooth against rough, rough to rough,
smooth to smooth; each raises heat,
awakens a force
moved into being by edge scraping edge
the gliding plane
our movement through air as friction
the soaring heart,
the pounding heart, ventricle and atrium
pumping, pulsating and pushing life blood,
in never stopping motion,
constantly overcoming friction and resistance,
harp strings tremble, plucked and stroked by knowing
fingers, the wailing saxophone,
the streaking trumpet,
the tickling tinkling piano strokes,
slides, glides, and breaks its chords
all raising hammers to strings
and frictioned strings to sound
the whispered violin
all engineered friction fusing with air,
music born of friction, peaks and troughs of sound
throb in our ears
the ship slicing through waves,
opening and parting them in bowed surge
the wetted measured friction
has the waters parting, gushing, rushing round
singing in joyous roars that fill, fulfill, and enflame
basking mermaids slithering and lulling in the waves
of plunging passion
our fingertips, too, on skin, are friction
we call pleasure, touches we arch under
the language of groans and sighs also moaned friction
of heated air rasping vibrating cords
in the throat, just so
and then tensing to yes.
the pleasure of the plough plunging deep,
digging deep into gripping soil
gratefully opening up to tilling, for seeds of life
to be planted, so that in season, a rich harvest would birth
and how our voices rejoice, secret yielded as fruit
the shared complicity in
friction and pulling,
plowing, plunging and planting
the stone grinder, the blunt edge,
engage in perfect frictional resistance,
sharpening, short lived stars shooting and flying dazzle,
heat rising to combustion points,
sparks flying with each roll, the spinning grind
the resistance of the pool
the waiting surface tension
the perfect contours of its ribbed surface
pierced by the perfect dive,
the ripples and return heave of frictional resistance
the suckling suctioning into parted spaces, bubbling,
warming and enfolding heat, in the cool dive defeating friction, thawing,
how resistance melts down
into dissolving softness,
like a warm bread knife,
pressed deep into yielding butter,
soon bathed in golden cream….
the touch as fingers run through skin tense,
the kissing caress, lips slowly rubbing singing skin
bodies locking, unlocking, interlocking,
passions painted in colors of friendly wrestlers
locked in a tussle of mutual entanglement and enlargement,
grasping, clutching, gripping
skins toned, glistening, unchaining and liberating
expanding voices, accelerating motions of
perpetual ebbs and flows, surges and suctions
hurrying to a waiting harbor, destroying energy in liberating bliss
and incomprehensible scribbles
on the resisting vibrating surface of the bewitched air
all need your collaboration
demanding energy to overcome
though energy would be felt,
drowned in flowing pleasures
without friction there can be no pleasure
stuttered, stalled, sullen and static
journeys without boundaries
life a languid limp limbo
resistance and restrainer
you increase work and heat
liberating positive energy in seasons of amity
but when time and pride corrode the good
and anomie sets in
and thorn weeds sprout and spike in polluted hearts
painful friction, spawn and install in stubborn hearts
spout-spawning spiraling masses of negative energy,
spurning joy, acerbic simmer, toxic swelters, choking
as corrosive friction multiplies and you deepen your roots
the good begins to dissolve, the ugly enlarges
our edges dry and wear down;
stripped tongues heavy and cracked like warped wood,
hearts unmoved,
and our communications collapse
as enlarging frictions fetters and freezes the feet of amity
to resist and retard the swelling of heart
and bodies that once vibrated and throbbed as one
***And here we are, at our last piece in the fizzy feelings/fuzzy physics series and Susan and I close it here with a flourish. The theme friction is one that lends itself to diverse explorations and exploitations and we have not stinted in any way here in these 
and we hope you will like what we have tried to make of it!
Thanks again to Susan, my partner in poetry and co-creator, for challenge, co-inspiration and for such gorgeous use of the language!
By Noel Ihebuzor
A song on bad education
Anxious open minds, eyes ablaze and shining
all gaiety and laughter at entry
to an environment, structured, neat, calibrated and ordered
most exit, heads crammed with knowledge, morose, twinkle gone
minds closed, vision dimmed , imagination dulled and diluted
a perceived empty vessel, trapped
and held hostage in an unequal dialogue
with a pedagogue
who suffers no dialogue
outside the book log
austere professional who decants chunks of assured unquestionable knowledge
in unmeasured torrents to be imbibed and returned
the death of the imagination in minds once so active
learning to learning suspended, dangling knowledge
with no anchor nor roots
dampening spirits, sad, sore and dour
the emergence of one dimensional thinking
fostered by methods that shackle rather than free the mind
and a mind that was once so free to roam
and loved to run, roll and tumble
now stalls, staggers in tatters, strutless
and a flicker that was lit at birth,
slowly dims, dims and dies…..
By Noel Ihebuzor and Susan Daniels
Lately, conversations,
learned or elementary
about quantum entanglements
resonate & bring to mind
you
rich in kinks and curves
to the eyes straight
mirrors of us imperfect in perfection
reluctantly splitting in medium dense
elegance bending in fine angles
And tonight I lose sleep
to deep speculation
wondering at which point
and how
particles of pure energy
roaming space free, opening places
penetrating spaces and crevices
the flowing and roaming particles of
our matter collided
breaking barriers
upper and lower limit
vibrating stream of energy
yes, streams that crashed
and colluded
to synthesize
this synchronized turn
& counter-turn
between us
how across distances
the color of angel robes
the bow of the sky
this awareness continues
bundles of colors at different energy levels
streaming to lighten, to loosen
a delight
past an elemental level
indefinite until measured
** As usual, It was such wonderful fun doing this duet with Susan where we explore the relevance of aspects of particle theory in physics to communication and bonding across space, place and cultures. Susan says it better in her usual eoquence in the words below. Noel
***Quantum entanglements, or the theory of, was the inspiration for this duet between my bolded friend and I (italicized). I believe it describes nicely a friendship and affinity that stretches across the globe
As always, hope you enjoy our fuzzy, fizzy exploration between particles and people — I know I had fun writing it with Noel, hope you enjoy reading it.
By Susan Daniels and Noel Ihebuzor
Raw or refined,
Raging or reclining,
Coiled, uncoiling, recoiled
force and power, taming and untamed , kinetic and potential
constant in final summation
never lost
Eternal borrowed magic
forged once and never destroyed;
only shifting form,
released or recaptured
in new attachments
Transmuting, changing, converting
fields always present
in us, force field, flooding
all life is you, dancing
Whether rolling, roaming, roaring or lulling, tangible proofs
of your occasional intangible presence
we sense the voice singing you
sketching or announcing your passage
either as silent footfalls or thumping poundings
reminding us to be, that we are,
we are beings because of you,
primal mover at the beginning
and still being, celebrating and echoing the command
to be, and you are and remain
being in your bounding, binding,
pounding, driving, falling,
tumbling, stumbling, climbing
the invisible hands drawing the earth’s pull taut,
the rise in slopes, hunger also rising;
rivers rush, stream, and sing your name
and here, we pull together in equal force,
meeting and blending these shifting fields
other disciplines call spirit
but I name simply us;
a measurable magic
weighed in breath
and silent singing of neural nets
taking in and releasing
perfection enacted, beauty embodied
tumbles joyfully to waiting limbs of estuaries,
your torrents delighting, passion swirling
and in the heart pumping blood,
necessary and rhythmic expression of muscle
exalting, exulting, and moving
pure life energy
beating and pushing
the energy of the heart
and this energy can push, also,
the pulse of hate, the politics of rage
the power to heat up, hurt, harm
and strengthen the impulse to heal, help
raw and caged in dams, you exist, taut, waiting
leaving us free, agents with choice
to channel you for good or for bad or for bland
We draw from you the means for
tearing down or building
and weeping as our hands itch for and grasp the former
and you weep in fits at our failure and our fate.
***My co-creator Susan’s voice is in italics – mine is bolded. Again, we had so much fun with this when we created it–hope you enjoy reading it. As always, a treat to write with Susan whose energy and creativity added life and flow to what is difficult concept in physics !
By Noel Ihebuzor and Susan Daniels
Monosyllable rich in polysemy
endless, stretching fabric enfolding layers
of meanings, deeper than the infinite
finite, endless, far and near
seamless unity, past, present, future merged
was, is and will, history and hope
defiant of human labels
Eternity the endless is;
neither forward nor back,
but everything now, old and new
the cry of creation echoed
by foothills wrapped in morning mist
reflecting the hum underneath sound,
an ageless shout
Stretched out in space
travelling and rolling
never straight, never monotone, velocity varying
in your kinks and loops,
you dance backwards to lace and trap the minds
of the traveler looking backwards from the present
reaching backwards to embellish images and events
with generous sweet strokes and paintbrushes, dripping nostalgia
We can only chart your path,
a journey from now to the less-now
colored by memory–beautiful,
instructive, instinctive;
more art than accuracy
in the retelling. Still, we rise
from what we think shapes us
to this moment, the moment now past
The beat of the pounding heart
the chimes of throbbing bodies
measure of rhythmic flows
the pulsing vibrating instruments
ogene, piano, ekwe, flute all sing and hum
with you, imperfect mirrors of your rhythm and soul
Yes, we keep time,
counting in fours and swings
and steps, our imposed order
an accompaniment
to your dance through and with us
Measure of intensity, streaming shooting jet
fast as light, often twice as swift
for those in present passion
crawling slow overweight snail for those who wait
rhythm ancient undying
constant motion, flowing streams
defying all our puny efforts
to trap, define and fix your roaming endless stroll
numberless, units without limits, objective
us subjective
the time traveler’s delight, mind shuttles between epochs
gone to relive, coming to feel and anticipate and feel
through frosty crystal balls,
shady mind prisms and tired eyes permitting
astral and mind travels
mind dragging body
Our error
the attempt to capture
or predict your movements,
when we should simply
play within your loops
that wrap us loosely
and then tighten; you are truly
Ouroboros,
constantly swallowing your own tail
the measure of seasons, defying seasons
ebbing and flowing
value and value, always subjective, never same,
the marriage of intensity, attitude ,
people, person and place parade and prance in your amber
producing passion, patience and pleasure
thundering and thumping
Like you, we should
open these mouths to swallow the past
in endless loops of hunger,
taste what has been
on the way, strengthening us
for the race to what will be
your rolling boundless presence
a glimpse into eternity
no boundaries, binding, bonding
all who live, breathe
feeling raptures and ruptures
departures, returns, beginnings and endless endings without end
the eternal dance and mystery of you
** Susan has wonderfully summarised the genesis of this duet on Time in her post below! Need I say more? Except the obvious – that it is always a pleasure to sing with Susan. My voice is in bold, Susan’s is italicized!
***My duet partner caught inspiration for this jogging on the beach in Dar es Salaam; sent me his lines, and I answered from Eden. The actual time it took to write this piece together was under an hour, I believe, and I love its spontaneity and movement! Hope you do too. (Susan)
Reflections 