Thirteen Ways of Looking at Rodney

I
Among twenty chastised scientists,
The only moving things
Were Rodney's hands.

II
I was of three minds,
Like a quantum mirror
In which there are three Rodneys.

III
Rodney stalled for time in the lashing storm.
It was a key part of the pantomime.

IV
Coffee and physics
Are one.
Coffee and physics and Rodney
Are one.

V
I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of calculations
Or the beauty of the wormhole,
Rodney smiling
Or just after.

VI
The ocean filled the small jumper
With numbing water.
The shadow of Sam Carter
Crossed it, to and fro.
Rodney
Followed the shadow
With fading coherence.

VII
O morons of Atlantis,
Why do you imagine kinder tongues?
Do you not see how Rodney
Saves the lives
Of the people around you?

VIII
I know stubborn assurance
And trembling, unexpected bravery;
But I know, too,
That Rodney is involved
In what I know.

IX
When Rodney neared Ascension,
It marked the edge
Of one of many circles.

X
At the sight of Rodney
Falling in a burst of blue light,
Even the soldiers of Genii
Would cry out sharply.

XI
John stalked through Atlantis
In people's dreams.
Once, a fear pierced him,
In that he mistook
The shadow of his doppelganger
For Rodney.

XII
The city is quiet.
Rodney must be keeping watch.

XIII
It was evening all afternoon.
It was raining
And it was going to rain.
Rodney gazed up
From the balcony.

» Jadesfire's Latin translation, Tresdecim Modi ut Rodneius Videre Posset
» Jadesfire's illustrated remix/expansion, Rodney's Poetry Months