the meaning of intensity

kevin thornton

In Physics, never my favourite, it is ‘time-averaged energy flux.’ I attempt to pronounce the phrase, savour it; pretend it means something some more than ‘it sucks’.

It’s also the ratio of power, to area, to density flow. I think I heard that from an arithmetician, who struck me as someone who’d know, as truth was his permanent predisposition.

It’s a way to assess how an earthquake quakes, unless that is merely the magnitude. The one has to do with how hard the ground shakes. The other’s a measure of amplitude.

In the arts it can be an exaggeration. It’s also a word hard to rhyme. This sonnet’s additional concatenation suggests that I needed more time.

It seems I have no propensity, to write a poem with intensity.