Ode to Entropy

In ordered rooms and tidy minds,
We build our castles against time.
But second laws cannot be fooled,
By human hands, however skilled.

The body knows this ancient truth:
Each cell divides, repairs, renews,
Yet cannot halt the slow decay
That claims us all in subtle ways.

In hospital halls where I once stood,
Watching systems fail despite the good
Intentions, drugs, and careful plans—
Disorder mocks the works of man.

The patient chart, a testament
To entropy’s experiment:
How many ways can things go wrong?
How many paths lead from the strong?

Yet in this chaos, patterns form,
Like galaxies from cosmic storms.
The very force that tears apart
Creates the beating of each heart.

So let us not resist the flow
That makes all living systems grow.
For in surrender to this force,
We find our most authentic course.

The universe tends toward decay,
And we, its children, must obey.
But in this truth lies strange relief:
Our struggles share a common brief.

To organize against the tide,
To heal, create, and stand beside
The forces of disintegration
With temporary constellations.

This is the doctor’s sacred task,
The poet’s too, if you should ask—
To find within disorder’s reign
A pattern worth our joy and pain.