Tea Leaves and the Age Old Search

Big Blue Miracle Machine

Clouds, puffs of smoke,
Creamer swirling in coffee,
Tea leaves in an empty cup,
A face in the flames,
Visions in a crystal ball.

When we catch sight of serendipitous patterns
We are looking into a miracle machine.

How completely predictable is our world.
How completely random is our world.

When one defines “miracle” it is usually said
To be a once in a million occurrence,
The unexpected.
Something that shouldn’t happen.
Examples cited are usually big miracles,
Such as the dead come back to life.
Smaller events, such as a snowflake falling
In the Sahara, are every bit as miraculous.

Take a quarter out of your pocket.
Toss it into the air.
Probability tells us that it will land
On either the "heads" side or the "tails" side.

If you flip the coin ten times it is supposed
To land on heads five times and tails
The other five times.
This usually doesn't happen in a small test.
But after a few hundred tosses,
The results should approach parity.
Throw the coin several thousand times
And the differences should flatten out.

By the millionth time the quarter flies
Through the air you may experience
The fleeting miracle.
Maybe the quarter lands on it's edge,
Perchance a bird swoops down and plucks it
Out of the air, or maybe it just vanishes
Into thin air.

Recently, I looked up at a clear blue sky
Punctuated with a few small clouds.
The clouds were clustered together, like a flock
Of geese heading toward water.
I kept my eye focused on one particular cloud.
I watched as it slowly melted away,
Like an ice cube in a glass of water.

Who knows how many clouds I have seen
in my life ? Millions?

(Yesterday I glanced up to find the sky
Filled with mammatus clouds)

The world can be a miracle machine
If you have the requisite patience

Just don't make the mistake of
Assigning significance to this
Freak of happenstance

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