It's Sunday morning. It's bright and cool, the sort of fall morning that makes the world's problems seem like fake news. Peter and I are at the Marriott Courtyard, off campus. This morning's breakfast is Peter's 19th birthday present to me.
I'm redorkulously happy and surprisingly hungry. Somewhere, in the noisy, happy sounding kitchen, there's a bacon, cheddar-cheese, tomato, ham, green-pepper, and spinach omelette being convoked in my name, and my tummy is growling in anticipation.
Our waiter brought us large white mugs of nutmeg coffee - God bless her for that. Sipping it, I scanned the dining room, where carefree, normal people were enjoying their brunches. They didn't look like they had hours of reading and problem-sets (homework) waiting for them later - but who knows?
Peter leaned forward, smiling, to refill my mug and then, when adding some cream, he almost overfilled it. I couldn't help chuckling. I enjoy this awkward man's company beyond all sanity, to the point that it's a little cringy and embarrassing. Our smiles seemed to clang together, like symbols. I wish I could bask in the warmth of that smile all day.
'You could do me a favor, ' I say shyly, 'a little extra present? ' I said, trying to look pitiable.
'What? ' he asks, with a skeptical look. I open my bag and pull out my latest physics PSET (a homework problem set) .
'This problem haunted me in my dreams last night, ' I say, smoothing out the wrinkled paper and rotating it so it was right-side-up for him. '#6, ' I said, confirming that with a pointing finger.
He glances at it. 'Ahh, classical mechanics? ' he guessed. 'Right, ' I confirmed.
He looks up at me through his bushy, brown eyebrows, 'You took AP physics one in high school and physics 2 here, last year? ' He asked. 'Yeah, ' I confirmed, 'but this problem is throwing me.'
'Well, ' he says, motioning me to hand him my pen, 'you're perspicacious all right, but you're basically a biology major, ' he begins, 'a set of studies that involve a memorization mentality. For physics one and two, I bet you memorized Maxwell's laws, the Kinematic equations and the table of equation cases, ya? '
I nodded yes.
'Unfortunately, that's not going to cut it here, ' he says, shaking his head, 'All of those nice simplifications aren't in play here - there are no cases to rely on - it's derive as you go.' As he explained this he was briskly scribbling something on a paper napkin and the answer was there, on that, a second later, when he rotated the paper back to me.
His eyes are a dark, gingerbread brown, but despite that darkness, they seemed warm and lit from within. A swoop of his dark blue-black hair has fallen across his forehead, I leaned over the small table to tuck it back into place. 'Thank you, ' I said, breathing a sigh of relief, 'did you show your work? ' I asked as I folded the paper and napkin away.
'Of course, ' he says, amused, 'but we'll review it later, ' he assured me.
'Happy birthday ME! ' I said, in a whispered cheer.
'Yes, ' he grinned, 'Happy Birthday, YOU, ' he pronounced as our omelettes arrived
.
.
*perspicacious: the keen ability to understand difficult or amorphous things.
redorkulously = so ridiculous it's dorky *
I think I find some non-physics 'problems' in these lines: 'He looks up at me through his bushy, brown eyebrows, 'You took AP physics one and two in high school? ' He asked. 'Yeah, ' I confirmed, 'but this problem is throwing me.' ' So, are you a physics major?
I think the verb tense used in stanzas 3 & 4 is past tense and I think you use present tense in others. I will read more and check more carefully.
Has anyone ELSE in this world refered to an omelette being made as being CONVOKED? Ha! I doubt it. : ) bri
I've not read the poem yet, but I DID read definitions after it. Thanks, anais! I like 'redorkulously', have never heard of it till now, know the two origin-words, but will probably NOT add to my vocabulary. : ) bri
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
So, will you pretend that YOU solved the problem, not Peter? I hope omelette was redorkulously yummy. bri : ) 3 1/2 stars, call it 4.