Poem: "Incompressible"
Dec. 28th, 2025 10:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the January 2, 2024 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from dialecticdreamer. It also fills the "When You're Smiling" square in my 1-1-24 card for the Public Domain Day Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred. It belongs to the Foster Fiasco thread in the Polychrome Heroics series.
"Incompressible"
[Tuesday, September 22, 2015]
Robert Cavendish watched
as his friend Julio de León
bounced a cherry bomb
cheerfully in his hand.
"Come on, it will be
fun," Julio wheedled.
Robert was pretty sure
that cherry bombs came
in a pack of four, and Julio
only had one, but that was
something he didn't have
energy to worry about more.
"I don't think it's a good idea,"
said Robert. "We're really
not supposed to break things."
Julio shrugged. "Well, Clown Tie
said we could do whatever today."
The problem with doing whatever
was that it tended to wind up on
your record, and Robert really
wanted to get into college.
Julio didn't have to care about
that, because his record was
already as trashed as it could get.
That's because he was a foster kid
and took it out on whatever family
had him at present, not to mention
their car and house and anything else
he could get his hands on to wreck.
Julio was still an interesting friend,
though, and Robert liked him.
"Live a little," Julio said. "Don't
be so ... stuffy all the time."
"Well, if you've done it before
and you're sure that it's fun,
Robert said hesitantly.
"Oh yeah, lots of times,"
Julio said with a grin.
"Let's hit the boys' room."
But just as Julio was about
to drop the cherry bomb
down one of the toilets,
a different Clown Tie
caught it in his hand.
"I don't think the teachers
would appreciate us doing
that experiment here today,"
he said. "People might get
upset if they needed to use
the toilet and it was gone."
"Gone?" Robert yelped.
"How did you know what
we planned?" said Julio.
"Ah, that's the thing about
teenagers," Taylor said with
a sigh. "When you're smiling,
then I know something's up."
"Are we in trouble now?"
Julio drawled, glaring.
"Of course not. My name
is Taylor," said the man.
Yeah, it was written on
his silly tie. "I can show
you what happens when
a cherry bomb gets flushed."
Show them he did. There
was a video of it on V'you.
It actually broke the toilet.
Julio burst out laughing,
but Robert didn't think it was
all that funny. It made him
feel uncomfortable inside.
Then Taylor gave them
a lesson on displacement,
where he talked them through
comparisons between the water
in the toilet bowl and the volume
of the subsequent explosion.
He even got down on the floor
and sketched diagrams on
the not-too-clean concrete.
"See, ceramic is rigid and
water is incompressible,"
Taylor explained. "When
the cherry bomb explodes, it
makes a sudden increase in
pressure, which has nowhere
to go, so that's why it breaks
the part of the toilet it's in."
"Huh," Julio said thoughtfully,
tracing the diagram with a finger.
"I just knew it worked, I never
understood why. It's kinda cool."
"Science is definitely cool,"
Taylor agreed. "It can tell
you how everything works."
"Oh yeah?" Julio said.
"Sure," said Taylor. "One
of my regular gigs happens
to be emergency engineering.
When things go kerblooey, I'm
the guy they call to make sure
that it doesn't get any worse."
"Best. Job. Ever," Robert said,
staring at Taylor in wonder.
"I'm glad you think so,"
said Taylor. "So let's
imagine that some kid
did blow up a toilet. What
could you do to fix that?"
"Nothin' -- I'm not a plumber!"
Julio said, shaking his head.
"Well, we could turn the water
off so it doesn't flood the room,"
Robert pointed out. "There's
always a valve somewhere."
"Good thinking," said Taylor.
"What else could you do? If
you write a report, it's worth
extra credit for science."
"Guess we could pick up
the broken bits and maybe
mop the water," said Julio.
"Take any notes or pictures
you want from here, then I
suggest you boys find a place
to write your report," said Taylor.
"Let's not hog the bathroom."
Robert used his vidwatch
to snap a few photographs.
Julio didn't have one; he
used a battered notebook.
It felt a lot like when they
partnered in science classes,
which they both enjoyed, Robert
for Julio's fresh perspective, and
Julio for Robert's knowledge.
Taylor admired their work,
then shooed them away.
"That didn't suck as much
as it could have," Julio said.
"All that science stuff was
more interesting than I
thought it could be."
"That's why I like it
so much," Robert said.
"It explains a lot about
what will happen and why."
"Maybe I'll listen more when
you talk about it," Julio said.
"That Taylor guy was okay at it.
Most people don't like me much."
Robert thought that maybe Julio was
like water, was just incompressible,
and it'd be easier if grownups would
give him space instead of trying
to crush all the fight out of him.
At least, they should listen better.
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its notes appear elsewhere.
dialecticdreamer. It also fills the "When You're Smiling" square in my 1-1-24 card for the Public Domain Day Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred. It belongs to the Foster Fiasco thread in the Polychrome Heroics series."Incompressible"
[Tuesday, September 22, 2015]
Robert Cavendish watched
as his friend Julio de León
bounced a cherry bomb
cheerfully in his hand.
"Come on, it will be
fun," Julio wheedled.
Robert was pretty sure
that cherry bombs came
in a pack of four, and Julio
only had one, but that was
something he didn't have
energy to worry about more.
"I don't think it's a good idea,"
said Robert. "We're really
not supposed to break things."
Julio shrugged. "Well, Clown Tie
said we could do whatever today."
The problem with doing whatever
was that it tended to wind up on
your record, and Robert really
wanted to get into college.
Julio didn't have to care about
that, because his record was
already as trashed as it could get.
That's because he was a foster kid
and took it out on whatever family
had him at present, not to mention
their car and house and anything else
he could get his hands on to wreck.
Julio was still an interesting friend,
though, and Robert liked him.
"Live a little," Julio said. "Don't
be so ... stuffy all the time."
"Well, if you've done it before
and you're sure that it's fun,
Robert said hesitantly.
"Oh yeah, lots of times,"
Julio said with a grin.
"Let's hit the boys' room."
But just as Julio was about
to drop the cherry bomb
down one of the toilets,
a different Clown Tie
caught it in his hand.
"I don't think the teachers
would appreciate us doing
that experiment here today,"
he said. "People might get
upset if they needed to use
the toilet and it was gone."
"Gone?" Robert yelped.
"How did you know what
we planned?" said Julio.
"Ah, that's the thing about
teenagers," Taylor said with
a sigh. "When you're smiling,
then I know something's up."
"Are we in trouble now?"
Julio drawled, glaring.
"Of course not. My name
is Taylor," said the man.
Yeah, it was written on
his silly tie. "I can show
you what happens when
a cherry bomb gets flushed."
Show them he did. There
was a video of it on V'you.
It actually broke the toilet.
Julio burst out laughing,
but Robert didn't think it was
all that funny. It made him
feel uncomfortable inside.
Then Taylor gave them
a lesson on displacement,
where he talked them through
comparisons between the water
in the toilet bowl and the volume
of the subsequent explosion.
He even got down on the floor
and sketched diagrams on
the not-too-clean concrete.
"See, ceramic is rigid and
water is incompressible,"
Taylor explained. "When
the cherry bomb explodes, it
makes a sudden increase in
pressure, which has nowhere
to go, so that's why it breaks
the part of the toilet it's in."
"Huh," Julio said thoughtfully,
tracing the diagram with a finger.
"I just knew it worked, I never
understood why. It's kinda cool."
"Science is definitely cool,"
Taylor agreed. "It can tell
you how everything works."
"Oh yeah?" Julio said.
"Sure," said Taylor. "One
of my regular gigs happens
to be emergency engineering.
When things go kerblooey, I'm
the guy they call to make sure
that it doesn't get any worse."
"Best. Job. Ever," Robert said,
staring at Taylor in wonder.
"I'm glad you think so,"
said Taylor. "So let's
imagine that some kid
did blow up a toilet. What
could you do to fix that?"
"Nothin' -- I'm not a plumber!"
Julio said, shaking his head.
"Well, we could turn the water
off so it doesn't flood the room,"
Robert pointed out. "There's
always a valve somewhere."
"Good thinking," said Taylor.
"What else could you do? If
you write a report, it's worth
extra credit for science."
"Guess we could pick up
the broken bits and maybe
mop the water," said Julio.
"Take any notes or pictures
you want from here, then I
suggest you boys find a place
to write your report," said Taylor.
"Let's not hog the bathroom."
Robert used his vidwatch
to snap a few photographs.
Julio didn't have one; he
used a battered notebook.
It felt a lot like when they
partnered in science classes,
which they both enjoyed, Robert
for Julio's fresh perspective, and
Julio for Robert's knowledge.
Taylor admired their work,
then shooed them away.
"That didn't suck as much
as it could have," Julio said.
"All that science stuff was
more interesting than I
thought it could be."
"That's why I like it
so much," Robert said.
"It explains a lot about
what will happen and why."
"Maybe I'll listen more when
you talk about it," Julio said.
"That Taylor guy was okay at it.
Most people don't like me much."
Robert thought that maybe Julio was
like water, was just incompressible,
and it'd be easier if grownups would
give him space instead of trying
to crush all the fight out of him.
At least, they should listen better.
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its notes appear elsewhere.
Love this!
Date: 2025-12-29 04:47 am (UTC)Re: Love this!
Date: 2025-12-29 05:19 am (UTC)>>Great how he prevented damage while still letting them see a toilet explode on video.<<
You get the fun without disabling the facilities. :D
>> Then he sneaked in science and info about how fixing things can be a fun job! <<
Yep, he knows how to appeal to teen boys.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-12-29 07:54 am (UTC)Mind you, he'd also wake up the class by dipping bits of chalk into nitroglycerine and throwing it at the wall behind us! So his ideas of 'safe' were a bit further out than most people's.
Interesting teacher, never did learn that much about the dryer bits of chemistry, but I got the hang of making things explode pretty well!
Yes ...
Date: 2025-12-29 08:13 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-12-29 08:42 am (UTC)My high school chem teacher never made nitroglycerine, but we did get nitrogen iodide and thermite (on different occasions -- neither one of those needs any help). There's probably still a scorched spot on the ceiling from the thermite reaction.