Entropy Poem by Fred Babbin

Once a beautiful, well-dressed woman
visited a house.
The master of the house asked her
who she was;
She replied she was the goddess of wealth.
The master of the house was delighted
and so greeted her with open arms.

Soon after another woman appeared
who was ugly and poorly dressed.
The master asked who she was
and the woman replied that
she was the goddess of poverty.
The master was frightened and tried
to drive her out of the house,
but the woman refused to depart, saying,
‘The goddess of wealth is my sister.
There is an agreement between us
that we are never to live apart.
If you chase me out, she is to go with me.’
And soon as the ugly woman went out,
the other woman vanished..

Birth goes with death.
Fortune with misfortune.
Bad things follow good.
We should realize this.
Foolish people dread misfortune
and strive after good.
but those who seek
to be Enlightened,
must transcend both of them
and be free of worldly attachments.”
(The Teaching of the Buddha)

Once Power knocked at the mortal’s door.
And the mortal asked: “who are you, sir? ”
And Power said; “I am Power.
I can give you all that you want.”
Do you want to move faster
than any live thing?
Would you like flying?
Would you go to the bottom
Of the dark blue-green ocean?
Do you want to fly
to the stars perhaps
at the blinding speed of light?
Do you want to never be hungry,
and always stay warm as you please?
Do you want to overcome natural destroyers,
And not so natural ones too?
I can give you all that you wish.
My partner, Technology, and I.
We cannot take away death yet,
but we can fulfill all your dreams.

But then came another knock
A menacing knock at the door.
Who are you? Asked the mortal, again,
And this time the creature answered:
I am the creation of
Technology and Power.
They cannot exist without me.
I’m the statistical result of their activity
I’m one of the Thermodynamics laws
To be specific, the Second,
The Second Law
of Thermodynamics.
And my companion is Entropy

First of all, I say you can’t win.
You can never get out of any system
what you have put in,
You can’t even break even.
That fact allows Entropy to
take over.
So while Power and Technology
Have delivered their promise,
Entropy makes power
useless eventually,
by producing more waste
and useless byproducts
than Technology can handle.

This pattern will proceed
to some unknown end
which will not be in
the mortal’s best interest.

Thus we can see again -
Birth goes with death.
Fortune with misfortune.
Bad things follow good.
We should realize this.
Foolish people dread misfortune
and strive after good.
but those who seek
to be Enlightened,
must transcend both of them
and be free of worldly attachments.”
And we must live in the Present Instant
“for the past is over, and the future is not yet here”.
(The Teaching of the Buddha)