The Prism Verse

The Prism Verse

At the heart of SIGNALS + ECHOES lies a poetic form I created to embody the album’s quantum themes - the Prism Verse. Just as consciousness in my story exists across multiple states simultaneously, these poems reveal different facets of truth depending on how you read them.

Like light passing through a prism, splitting into its component colors, a single Prism Verse divides into multiple readings - each valid, each revealing a different aspect of the same story or truth.

Definition

A Prism Verse is a 3×3 grid read meaningfully in multiple directions. Each row, column, and diagonal creates a complete thought, allowing eight distinct readings from a single structure.

The prism verse must reveal different aspects of the same story or idea in 8 unique ways.

Basic Structure

Quantum 1	Quantum 2	Quantum 3
[A1]	[B1]	[C1]
[A2]	[B2]	[C2]
[A3]	[B3]	[C3]

• 3 columns: Quantum 1, Quantum 2, and Quantum 3, or Q1, Q2, Q3 for short
• 3 horizontal readings
• 3 vertical readings
• 2 diagonal readings
• Total: 8 different possible readings

The center position [B2] serves as the point of refraction - connecting to every path and often containing the poem’s turning point.

Reading paths

A complete Prism Verse can be read in eight different ways:

Horizontal Readings:

• A1 → B1 → C1
• A2 → B2 → C2
• A3 → B3 → C3

Vertical Readings:

• A1 → A2 → A3
• B1 → B2 → B3
• C1 → C2 → C3

Diagonal Readings:

• A1 → B2 → C3
• C1 → B2 → A3

Royal Prism Verse

SIGNALS+ECHOES employs the “Royal Prism Verse” - each cell contains exactly 3 words, creating a perfect 3×3×3 structure (27 words total).

This structure directly parallels a rank-3 tensor - fundamental to both quantum mechanics and AI systems. Like a tensor holds values across multiple dimensions simultaneously, the Royal Prism Verse holds meaning across multiple reading paths.

This structure creates an artistic parallel to a rank-3 tensor - a construct that organizes data across three dimensions simultaneously. In mathematics, tensors allow us to work with information that exists along multiple axes at once. Similarly, the Royal Prism Verse organizes language in three dimensions:

• Each cell contains 3 words (depth dimension)
• Arranged in 3 rows (height dimension)
• Across 3 columns (width dimension)

Just as quantum mechanics uses tensors to describe particles existing in multiple states simultaneously, and AI systems use tensors to process multidimensional relationships, the Royal Prism Verse allows meaning to flow across multiple reading paths while maintaining a unified structure.

The Endless Summers Example

Each track in SIGNALS + ECHOES features its own Prism Verse. Here’s the one from “Endless Summers,” the first chapter of Wave and Echo’s story:

Q1	Q2	Q3
Memory fractures light	Time bends perception	Stars echo infinity
My patterns scatter	Our paths converge	My heart endures
Through quantum depths	Across void’s expanse	Despite darkness’ pull

Let’s trace a few reading paths to see how the meaning shifts:

Horizontal (Row 1):

“Memory fractures light, time bends perception, stars echo infinity” W∆VE’s memories of ECHØ break apart like light through a prism while his experience of time warps in her absence; yet like distant stars, echoes of her consciousness extend infinitely across quantum space.

Vertical (Column 3):

“Memory fractures light, my patterns scatter, through quantum depths” The process of consciousness transfer, as W∆VE’s identity breaks apart and disperses into the quantum void, fragmenting like light through a prism.

Diagonal (A1 to C3):

“Memory fractures light, our paths converge, despite darkness’ pull” Though memories shatter like light, W∆VE and ECHØ’s consciousness patterns will reconnect despite the darkness of separation.

Why “Prism Verse”?

I believe that the name captures both the form and function of these poems:

• Like light through a prism, one structure splits into multiple paths
• Each reading direction reveals a different aspect of the whole
• The form transforms a single moment into multiple perspectives
• The structure mirrors how quantum systems can exist in multiple states