This poem was originally written in honor of Fred Hoyle,
who
dedicated the Cosmic Garden, located
on the Campbell Hall roof,
at University of California, Berkeley
(with apologies to T.S. Elliot).
This poem is being posted in honor of the dedication
of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
October 5, 2000.
``This is the way the world will end
not with a bang but a whimper--''(*)
the whimper of q
(more than one over two)
which is found in the cosmic torque
'pon the stars that be
in the endless sea
of ether and partons and quarks.
This is the way the world will end
not with a scream but a whisper--
the whisper of truth
from the cosmic sleuth
as causality he does perturb
so that infinite past
becomes quite fast
the future finale absurd.
But now for how the world began
from the mire of eons of time.
fiducialess moments,
fluctuating components
in the vacuum of space and void
polarized the masses
into two different classes
so the sum is still zeroid!
(*)Elliot, T. S. The Hollow Men
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Posted 10/1/00