Box

It appears one day, wheeled with inconvenient burden,

Thrown haplessly onto the laboratory floor

Besides the carcinogens and flammables-

Stains and all-

With hefty indifference.

The courier huffs

And leaves.

It is         …a shape.

Measuring some size,

Weighing some magnitude,

Occupying at least a finite number of dimensions.

The scientists take measurements, shave samples:

solubility tests; densitometry;

mass spectrometry; spectroscopy; calorimetry

They conclude:

It is         …a box.

It is endlessly fascinating.

The box agrees.

Suddenly, a brilliant idea –

The student musters the Herculean courage,

Wading against the tide of scornful patriarchal judgement,

To ask the box, who is a box:

               “Are you a box?”

               “No”, the box replies.

The student crumples into a singularity

And leaves.

More tests.

It is an intricate engineering challenge.

An interdisciplinary exercise of extraordinary academic tenacity.

Exactly!

Precisely!

Of course it is!

Of course.

The endlessly fascinating box stays where it was thrown.

It is still a box. If it is a box.

The box talks.

Nobody asks.

Soon, papers pour freely as Primitivo di Manduria,

Glasses leave ring stains on the endlessly fascinating box in question,

Now sporting adhesive googly eyes and a tidy bowtie.

Careers ignite and propel logarithmically.

“Here we report a three-dimensional prismatic entity

Characterised by six planar surfaces, each of which is a parallelogram,

With faces arranged in an orthogonal configuration, forming a polyhedral topology

Parametrically defined by three, mutually perpendicular orthogonal axes

Hereafter referred to as length, width and height.”

“we anticipate that this technical and practical innovation will exhibit a broad spectrum of utility across various logistical, industrial, scientific, artistic, societal, and cultural domains”

Yes.                       This is important now.

The box stands up

To no-one’s curiosity or attention

Pries itself apart

Empties into the expansive inflating void

Of meandering discussion

self-satisfaction

gratuitous self-promotion

And leaves without answers.