Compass Points

Albert loved to participate in trick-or-treat
and the good people of Milan thought him so sweet.
He would elicit smiles in old Italy
for at eight he was bearing and cute as could be.

He returned home with candy and gum in his eyes,
then he emptied his bag and received a surprise.
It was a pocket compass amid the night’s take;
Albert eyed it and uttered, “For Me? Goodness sake!”

  (Maturation became him at such a young age
    and that trait would abide on life’s lime-lighted stage.
    Back in Germany his father’s company failed,
    so in search of new business the family sailed.)

Albert gnawed on some candy in compulsive chew
because, although precocious, that’s what young boys do.
Still he picked up the compass as taste buds stayed roused
and was wide-eyed to see how the needle was housed.

Then he turned to the left and he turned to the right
and a young Albert was filled with hallowed delight.
To the north went the needle as wonder was nigh;
something caused it to move but he didn’t know why.

Albert had heard of magic, yet something inside
told him the laws of nature could not be denied.
(In some ways a savant at a handful of years;
  it’s the virtue and freedom clear thinking endears.)

When his dad saw the compass had awed Albert so,
he became well aware of his son’s need to know.
So he fostered that need for the boy best he could
because theories upcoming for physics were good.

(The cool compass that came from the trick-or-treat bag
    offered Albert such delight he often would brag
    about his newfound fortune in Halloween scene--
    though he did not do this until he was a teen.)

Albert grew into science and all its substrates
and he still was on point when he came to the States.
In America he achieved serious gain;
in his pocket the compass held to a gold chain.

As a teacher at Princeton few IQ’s compared;
he is famous for energy and MC². *
Albert Einstein walked tall in both physics and math
since a compass at eight pointed him on his path.


40 Lines (Anapestic Tetrameter)
Writer’s Cramp  October 30, 2013

*  E=MC² is a famous equation Einstein is known for.
    It equates energy to mass and the speed of light.
    (Energy is equal to mass times the speed of light squared.)