Power equals mass times acceleration times distance, all per time — with a phrase standing in every place a number would.
The borrowed model
The piece takes the physics equation for power and carries it, intact, into the poem. Power is energy per time; energy is force times distance; force is mass times acceleration; acceleration is a change in velocity per a change in time; and distance is the analytic geometry distance formula. Substituting each into the one above it gives a single expression, quoted straight from a standard physics textbook:
- P = E ⁄ t — power equals energy per time
- E = Fd — energy equals force times distance
- F = ma — force equals mass times acceleration
- a = Δv ⁄ Δt — acceleration equals the change in velocity per the change in time
- d = √((x₁ − x₂)² + (y₁ − y₂)²) — the distance formula
P = m(Δv ⁄ Δt) √((x₁ − x₂)² + (y₁ − y₂)²) ⁄ t
The substitutions
Every variable is then replaced by a phrase. Nothing about the physics changes; what changes is what the physics is now carrying.
- m — Your diamond strength, crystal bravery, a faceted fortress tempered by your self-love
- Δv — From the cold insecurity of night to the sun shaking your hand each morning while your heart drums life’s confirmation song
- Δt — From temporal neutrality to that split instant your intuition knows … eureka!
- x₁ — Celebrating your demonic victories, the transformation to deity
- x₂ — Lying in your crib, frightened of your mother’s sneeze
- y₁ — Forged impenetrable through triumph
- y₂ — Soft as your baby butt
The distance term, then, is the distance between the child frightened of a sneeze and the adult who has made the transformation to deity — and the power of confidence is that distance, crossed, per unit of time.
Dated
The poem is dated August 18, 2000. The digital image followed in 2001, and the piece was printed in 2003 as a 24 × 30 Lambda Duratran.