Riding on the bus at 12 years old (past 12 zodiac houses)
a friend drowned me in dialogue, shapes, dimensions,
submerged me, howling ocean of conceptual thought, what ifs,
til my brain could hardly breathe from asking questions of what lay beyond,
he said, "well, the second dimension is like a flat piece of paper,
but we live in the third, the demiurge folds origami,
takes a paper universe, pulls front & back in opposite directions,
creates extra space, see that's a new dimension, the third from the second,
they say we can do the same with reality, maybe
if we slide a razor between the seams,
we could pull it apart, see the fourth from the third,"
and we decided that the fourth dimension must be time,
because time seemed the natural choice, and, sitting on torn vinyl seats,
poor kids on the school bus, the best answer two twelve-year olds could find
for what exists beyond existence. A year later I moved away,
couldn't sleep, lying in the dark, 13 year old Indigo maybe,
the year 2000, new millennium, my first teenage year,
Greek Geometry just came to me; didn't bother turning on the light,
walked over to the wall in the dark, drew Eureka with my fingertip:
one point / vertex / a zero dimensional object,
two points / line segment / a first dimensional object,
four points / square / a second dimensional object,
eight points / cube / a third dimensional object,
so whatever lies beyond the third dimension must be:
sixteen points / hypercube / a fourth dimensional object.
Do you see the points double each time? (like the crown chakra)
They're not arbitrary, they're vertices. Do you see? (blink your third eyelash)
a vertex is where edges and faces come to a single point,
like two twelve year olds converging on a theory for what is,
before following separate edges and faces,
paths to new places in the untold shape of things.
sixteen points / hypercube / a fourth dimensional object,
bound by 8 (Dungeons & Dragons) hyperplanes,
at each edge, 3 (Nintendo Game)cubes and 3 squares(oft releases) intersect,
at each vertex, 4 cubes, 6 squares, and 4 edges meet,
Jack Kirby, Tales of Suspense #79-81,
a tesseract consists fully of
8 cubes / 24 squares / 32 edges / 16 vertices.
"Taking A.I.M" Avengers vol. 1, #386–388
but because humans can't see the extra-spatial dimension
that allows for the tesseract's existence, (on the school bus we called it time)
if we saw the tesseract's projection in three-dimensional reality,
we would never see it fourth-dimensionally (can you see time?)
we'd only see various three-dimensional shapes, depending on orientation:
cell-first, we would see a cube,
face-first, we would see a cuboid,
edge-first, we would see a hexagonal prism,
vertex-first, we would see a rhombic dodecadedron,
( like childhood, adolescence, coming of age
adulthood, middle-age, senescence, seniority)
and even if we walked all the way around,
we would see only these shapes, (like human bodies)
convinced they were just normal three-dimensional shapes, (like human bodies)
we wouldn't even see other possible shapes, (like souls, consciousness,
who knows) unless the tesseract shifted orientation, (to awaken)
no matter who much we move, we cannot change what we see,
unless the tesseract wills it, (the universe), and to me,
this is a great metaphor for human perception;
how we see so one-sidedly, (a cyclops)
thinking our way the only way, (a fascist)
and even if fate wills it, vision shifts,
and we see another way, (a third eye)
we still don't see all at once, (omniscience, [meaning all-science])
we still don't see the tesseract for what it truly is (god)
and even if we could, (see god)
we would only see (we are all gods)
that the tesseract is only one side
of a shape made of many tesseracts.
Like electromagnetism, gravity,
the strong force and the weak force.
Like electomagnetism, gravity,
the strong force and the weak force.
(tésser, [meaning four], aktís, [meaning ray])
life is nothing more than a four act ray.
(tésser, [meaning four], aktís, [meaning ray])
life is nothing more than a four act ray.
credits
from VOCA TERRA (Sounds of the Miles),
released April 20, 2017
Chase Maxwell - Lyrics, Vocals, Synthesizer
Walter Nettles - Guitar
Big, clanging psych-rock from this Arizona outfit fuses monk-like vocals with slow-winding guitars for songs that feel like strange hymns. Bandcamp New & Notable May 2, 2016
Italian stoner powerhouse Tenebra has the heft of Sabbath and the hooks of Saint Vitus in their powerfully imposing tunes. Bandcamp New & Notable May 8, 2022
The Brooklyn band deliver a blissful psychedelic rock album steeped in sci-fi and spirituality, awash with organs, strings, and reverb. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 23, 2021
Colliding a host of global sounds—from desert blues to Turkish psych—Abronia comes up with a mind-melting combo that never fails to thrill. Bandcamp New & Notable May 23, 2022
An earthy amalgam of American Primitive, spiritual jazz, and drone from this Seattle group is full of orbiting melodies and forest vibes. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 26, 2023