print previewback RON WALLACE
The House Always Wins
after Basho
Scientists say neutrinos may exceed the
speed of light. If so, could it mean the moon’s
really made of green cheese? That Einstein’s name
will be a footnote in physics books, or perhaps it
will just cease to exist? Could it be that God is
playing dice with the universe, after all? It’s difficult
now not to see relativity as, well, relative, to
question the whole time-space continuum, to cover
all our certainties with doubt. Everything’s now up
in the air. Consider the Big Bang and inflation. Will the
thought experiment now be how fast a yam,
traveling past light speed, can give us a glimpse of
the ridiculous? Are we doomed? Is the world a cartoon? A
casino? What are our odds in the house of God? 
The last words of each line, read vertically top to bottom, form a haiku by the Japanese poet Basho.
Bellwether
The House Always Wins
Misanthropic
The Rapture