The Zender Group Poetry Server

Is there a deep connection between my science and my poetry? Poetry involves expression of messy and serene feelings with economical nuanced verse that captures moments better than prose. Climate modeling requires parameterization of non-linear processes in efficient routines that capture important feedbacks. Modelers quilt their personal physics choices into a tapestry (the model) that portrays their scientific lineage and traditions. To the layperson, model accuracy may be secondary to model lineage, just as poetic skill may be secondary to reputation. Good poetry, however, unlike good modeling, will always shine through.

The poems are provided in seven formats described here. (PDF is best, and looks identical to DVI and PS. HTML, TXT, and XML are more convenient for PDAs, but these formats do not always preserve correct line-breaks or stanza spacing.).

• A Midriff Riff (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): Navel gazing sparked by walking downtown in Laguna Beach on a warm summer evening. My new favorite poem. (July–August, 2003)
• Aftermath of Broken Promises (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): Words tempt (April–May, 2004)
• Backache (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): The tyranny of strained spines. (March, 2008)
• Being, Mustard, Girl (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): On walking with my daughter. My favorite poem at the time. (April, 2003)
• Bob on You Grows (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): A song that should never be sung for my Father's 70th birthday. (June, 2001)
• Din and Tonic (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): I read Safire, chased him with Kristof and a hit of Barry, and thought... (May, 2003)
• Earth Gives (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): Boy meets planet, boy loses planet. (February, 2008)
• “Ethnic Cleansing” (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): This phrase evokes strong feelings in me. (April, 1999)
• Forty for Me (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): Revised from a ditty for killing time at my fortieth birthday party. (March, 2004)
• Haiku (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): Sundry Haiku poems on scientific themes. (1998--2004)
• Heartache (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): Anger desolates a home. (April, 2003)
• Matriarch Mona (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): My mother (April, 2007)
• Miscarriage (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): Abortion, naturally (January, 2005)
• Missing Spanish Chicks (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): Vacation expectations dashed by weather (April–June, 2004)
• New Wind in Ancient Land (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): How Cap de Creus, Catalonia, Spain feels (a personal favorite) (April–June, 2004)
• Olivia's Poetry (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): My daughter, Olivia, naturally speaks poetry. I just transcribe it. (April, 2004)
• Reasons I Love my Valentine (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): Valentine for my wife. (February, 2005)
• Salvador Dali's Home (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): ...is a bizarre Museum (April–June, 2004)
• Snake Skin (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): Valentine for my wife. (February, 2003)
• Swimming in Moments (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): A Father's Day poem for my wife. (June, 2003)
• Teen Aging (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): Written on my Mother's 70th birthday. (November, 2004)
• The Painter Alejandro Rivera-Leal (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): A painter we met in San Miguel Allende, Mexico, symbolizes the spirit of the town. Incomplete. (April, 1999)
• Three O'Clock Revival (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): My advisor's afternoon seminars revived my motivation. (September, 1998)
• Tri-angled up in Blue (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): Cheeky farewell song for my best friend, a mathematician. Full of inside jokes. (September, 1998)
• Your wish is a Seed (DVI, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, PS, TXT, XML): Fancy thoughts on a seed's potential (1995)