High school physics was my middle tide
I washed up and back on problem sets
Ingrained theory and practiced
And thus: master of a predictable universe
ax + b and equivalence
Force, work, and acceleration
I was a frictionless jerk
Faster and faster
Waiting for my slingshot
Into that brick wall
When the approval ran out
That inevitable 1973
My oil shock
My buildings that decade
Windowless concrete
With a side of fear
Residue only quenchable
With a Reagan shill's prayer
(Of course, I mean a Nietzsche-
Blundering rapier)
Our nine point eight
Meters per second
Per second
Unimaginable from the high dive
When my stomach dropped out
With a mathless flutter
And I hit the water
Without a scrap of theory
Roman Ryan 