Chapter V: Gases

Excerpt from "Kelvin's Electric Guitar Concerto" by Mala Radhakrishnan

...

And oh, how I loved the true peace in my life,
Bouncing so gently and free from all strife,
Gradually touring this box, our house,
To soothing sounds of Bach and Strauss.

At six hundred twenty-four joules per mole,
Our average energy proved we were cold,
And our “rms” speed, not a lively rate—
In meters per second, ’twas five fifty-eight.

Then one day we heard tawdry notes from afar,
The cacophonous scratch of electric guitar—
A rowdier group, unkempt for sure,
And boasting excessive temperature.

“You’re here for us?” they heard me. “Yup.
We’ve come ’round here to stir things up,
A helium mole from across the tracks.
See, somebody thermally joined our flasks.”

...