Skip to main content

Current

And it’s off! It’s propelled by the sparkly stuff,
The new pictures of people all processed above
And then fed to this neuron; his job is to rush
Down the river that’s cold, filled with ionic slush;
Then his neurotransmitter converts him to clouds
Made of chemical signals that swarm like a shroud
Up towards the next neuron. The enzymes attack,
But enough of the message survives past the gap
To be able to change to electric again.
His mood’s positive now as he starts to ascend
Up one dendritic tendril, he moves with the group
Now, combining their efforts to swim through the soup
Of the neuron’s cell body. Collectively they
Are formidably forceful, they barely delay
So the axon is passed through at terminal speed,
Our original signal’s last terminal deed
Was to merge with the surging electrical mob.
He is no longer He; He is They; They’re a blob.
They’re expanding beyond all their previous shapes,
Down the downtrodden lanes of the brain they escape,
And they’re flexing their power to zip like a fly
Through a vortex from cortex to cortex. They try
To restrain their own eagerness, get to the task
That the pictures of people initially asked
Them to do; they flow straight to the spine.
To the arm, to its muscles they next head, a line
Of commands to extend and release with the hands,
For the boy in the boat to push off from the sands.
But before they arrive the boy looks at his friends,
At the river ahead that he knows only ends
With more water; a broader and deeper expanse,
Which is ruled by cool quantumness, randomness, chance…
And before he is conscious of choosing to go,
The command is in motion already, and so,
Once the muscles are finally active enough,
They nudge forward the boat, gently nudge, and it’s off!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Things Got Bitter

 Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon is sunbathing in Cyprus. Once invited to address the Oxford Union , the millionaire (who now goes by the name 'Tommy Robinson') is lounging in a five-star hotel, scrolling through his phone, sending messages to thousands of ardent followers. He had fled the UK after breaching a court order, after losing a libel battle in 2021. This wealthy, powerful, criminal terrorist, fleeing supposed political persecution in his home country in order to reap the benefits of a safer place abroad, is a figurehead of the anti-Muslim violence currently burning across the UK. He doesn't speak the local language, he's got a history of criminally stalking and harassing a woman , assaulting a police officer, and his libel case was against a 15 year-old. Naturally, this man, and all his followers, believe that powerful foreign terrorists are a great danger to our children, and that the best way to protect women is to close borders. Were the government of Cyp...

Cancel All Non-Vegans

Content warnings: Discussion of animal abuse, misogyny, racism, and vegetarianism. Supposedly a fighter for social justice, Jeremy Corbyn spent much of his life eating the products of animal suffering. It's about time somebody said it. I say it with my chest: Cancel all non-vegans. Cancel all non-vegans. Cancel all non-vegans. Cancel all non-vegans. Cancel all non-vegans. Racists don't deserve platforms, respect, or sympathy. Misogynists don't deserve platforms, respect, or sympathy. Homophobes, transphobes, Israel apologists, and other violent bigots do not deserve to be pandered to, catered for, or listened to. We need them as far out of our social discourse as possible. Most reasonable people accept this. Violent people do not deserve our protection. So why are we blind to the violence of animal-eaters? My Dad's a racist. I disowned him for watching a Ben Shapiro video in 2020. My mother, seemingly sweet and kind-natured, regularly eats the flesh of once-sentient bei...

Things Can Only Get Bitter

About a week ago, I got a knock on the door. A man from the Labour party was here to ask if I'd given any thought to who I'd be voting for in the upcoming general election. I said "Green, this time." The man said, "I see - and had you maybe thought about why you're not giving your vote to Labour?" "I'm more on the Corbyn side of the party than the Starmer side, politically," I replied. The man looked about to give a pre-prepared response, and then stopped. He sighed, shook his head, and said: "Me too..." And this appears to be where the British Left stands, in the run-up to the election. On the one side, those ready to vote for a party who are currently throwing everything they've got at electing just  4 MPs into parliament; and on the other side, disillusioned Corbyn supporters suddenly stating that principles don't matter as much as winning elections. This election is about 'stopping the Tories'; the problem is, ...