Thursday, September 25, 2008

A Short Dissertation on the Expectations of Motion

I demand expediency. When I run up an escalator, I expect to fly, to be instantly transported to the top. When running down an escalator, I fall at the speed of sound, gently tapping every third or fourth step on the way. When I walk, I want to glide, to fall on the ground and roll, flowing with the current of the terrain, retaining momentum regardless of obstacles.

Running should be like swimming. The air should fold around your limbs with ergonomic embrace, softening the pull of gravity, being ripped by the cusp of your fingers and creating little eddies within the arcs of your arms.

Gravity is comforting yet frustrating. I want to collapse into its embrace, but not to slam my body into the earth with faltering recklessness.

You cannot trust physics to respect your expectations.

3 comments:

cIII said...

I saw a Bumper Sticker on the way home yesterday evening that said..
Gravity is a Myth. The Earth Sucks.

I'm with you though. Gravity. She is a fickle Lover.

Captain Dumbass said...

Fickle indeed. She leaves scars.

steenky bee said...

I do not trust gravity. It has left me sagging. And what a fitting post mentioning escalators. Your other writing about escalators was the first thing I knew about you.