February is the month that benefits from a leap year, thus having 29 days this year. A Leap Year is the year we gather the fragments of the 1/4 day in our calendar and give them space. It is a way of collecting time as if over the course these fragments were lost.

Time itself is theoretical. That’s why there’s more than one calendar, and that’s why we have leap years. We’re trying to force a rule or system onto something beyond us. We place a measurement on it, we allot meaning to it, we divide into divisions like seconds, minutes, days, months, years.

A tachyon, as a theoretical particle that moves faster than the speed of light would escape time itself. What a lovely idea.  (Just Google tachyon and time travel.)

The idea of traveling through time appeals to us for so many reasons; regret, I’d venture, is among the biggest. “If I could just go back and change that one decision…”

Many years ago, I used the tachyon as inspiration for a poem. What do you think?

tachyon love

the steam from the tub filters

into my lungs

and the warmth of the water

washes over my legs

as I glide to caress you,

slide my hands over your moist flesh

I lay my head on your shoulder, fill

myself with the scent of you,

watch the water sparkle, painted

by the candle

glow     I wrap my arms around your chest,

ensnaring you in my embrace

                content to stay, transfixed

                                here—time not end, time

not felt

I lean forward and you turn

to receive my hushed kiss

I smooth beads

of moisture from your cheek

embracing in full,

our bodies meld

until we coalesce like rising bubbles

not forming one

nor the other

not needing form

nor time

as justification for love

and it is moments like this we must remember

                when all else

                                fails us

it is moments like this

we must remember

 

Other words this month will be:

• chronon
• transilience
• amaranthine

Look here for some leap year superstitions (including the gem that it’s okay for gals to ask guys to marry them only during a leap year…).

As a side note: I have a cousin who was born on the 29th of February, so I think she’s actually only about 10, though she teaches at a university. 🙂