Asymptote

“And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.”
(Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower)

Courage. Kindness. Friendship. Character. These are the qualities that were supposed to define us as human beings, and propel us to greatness. But have they? We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes, but we haven’t yet valued humanity. We assign numeric values to each other, demarcating our universal existence with lines and borders that have no meaning. The chaos, despair, and senseless destruction we see today are a result of the alienation that people feel from each other and their environment.

We are all equal in the fact that we are all different. We are all the same in the fact that we will never be the same. We are united by the reality that all colours and all cultures are distinct & individual. We are harmonious in the reality that we are all held to this earth by the same gravity. We may not share blood, but we share the air that keeps us alive.

From cosmic perspective, every one of us is precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another. However, there are people who are discriminating by nature. They live inside a box and think people who don’t fit into their box are weird. I believe this lot of morons are like genetically-manipulated plants growing inside a laboratory, like indistinguishable faces, like droids. Like ignorance.

Some infinities are bigger than other infinities. There is some kind of a sweet innocence in being human – in not having to be just happy or just sad – but in the nature of being able to be both broken and whole, at the same time. We are all ordinary. We are all special. We are all boring. We are all spectacular. We are all shy. We are all bold. We are all heroes. We are all zeroes.

Zero is the number people often feel, more so than one. This verse is the retelling of the story of an entity that’s considered a ‘nullity’ by the society, but through determination, courage and love, it proves: even ‘nothing’ can truly be ‘something’. 

There lived two zeroes at a distant place
Bound by love of mighty force
Glowing from joy in each other’s face
Though numbered world clogged their course.

Bound by love of mighty force
Their hearts were entwined by one desire
Though numbered world clogged their course
To oblivion’s lair they would never retire.

Their hearts were entwined by one desire
Nothing could ever come in their way
To oblivion’s lair they would never retire
Rearing infinity with love and play.

Nothing could ever come in their way
Glowing from joy in each other’s face
Rearing infinity with love and play
There lived two zeroes at a distant place…

 

The title: Asymptote

In analytic geometry, an asymptote of a curve is a line such that the distance between the curve and the line approaches zero as they tend to infinity. In some contexts, such as algebraic geometry, an asymptote is defined as a line which is tangent to a curve at infinity.

The word asymptote is derived from the Greek ἀσύμπτωτος (asumptotos) which means “not falling together”. The term was introduced by Apollonius of Perga in his work on conic sections, but in contrast to its modern meaning, he used it to mean any line that does not intersect the given curve.

The poem is named ‘Asymptote’ from a social perspective. The world has been considered as a curve, and its inhabitants are merely the values of nature’s equation. This verse serves as a cry against discrimination that often occurs in various forms: gender, caste, colour, creed, class, language, or religion. The plights that are caused by these atrocities are of infinite degree. Hence, a reminder:

“We are but wisps of air, there are no heroes
Born surreal, yet real, like conjoined zeroes
Infinity, with a smiling face and tiny toes.”

Rhyming form used: Pantoum

The pantoum is derived from the pantun, a Malay verse form – specifically from the pantun berkait, a series of interwoven quatrains. The pantoum is a form of poetry similar to a villanelle in that there are repeating lines throughout the poem. It is composed of a series of quatrains; the second and fourth lines of each stanza are repeated as the first and third lines of the next. This pattern continues for any number of stanzas, except for the final stanza, which differs in the repeating pattern. The first and third lines of the last stanza are the second and fourth of the penultimate; the first line of the poem is the last line of the final stanza, and the third line of the first stanza is the second of the final. Ideally, the meaning of lines shifts when they are repeated although the words remain exactly the same. (Source: Pantoum, Wikipedia)

Inspiration for the poem: Zero

The poem is inspired by Zero, a 2010 stop motion short animation film, by an Australian husband and wife film-making duo, Christopher and Christine Kezelos. This dark fairytale takes place in a world where the inhabitants are born into a numerical class system. Faced with constant prejudice and persecution, an oppressed Zero walks a lonely path until a chance encounter changes his life forever: he meets a female Zero.

Zero employs innocently cute characterization which directly contrasts the dark themes of racism and intolerance underlying the story. The movie won the award for ‘Best Animation’ at the LA Shorts Fest and the Rhode Island International Film Festival. It also won an award for ‘Best Achievement in Sound’ at the Flickerfest International Film Festival.

Watch the movie below. (Please pause the background music to stop interference while playing the video. You can do so from the “♪ Roll your Soul ♫” section on the right. Sincerest apologies for the inconvenience caused.)

In case your flash player is giving problem, you can also view it here.

Related Links:

• Pantoum: A Dance With Words
• Asymptote
• Zero: Stop Motion Animation by Christopher Kezelos

Copyright © 2012-2013 Tanumoy Biswas and The Nomadic Soliloquist. All Rights Reserved.