the turtle is its shell

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photo by Joost van Os

there is only one shape
in the world that will
always right itself, no matter what
whichever equilibrium point you balance it on,
stable or unstable, on its head
or on its ass — the gömböc — 
no cuboids, no spheres, no eggs,
no cones, no other objects can compare — 
they all roll over or fall, and can’t get back up again — 
they all disappoint you…
where in nature does the gömböc exist?
where can we find our precious gömböc?
gömböc, so beautiful, firm, so persistent,
homogeneous in build, such bounce-back-ability…
oh, gömböc, will you come alive for me?
will I find you somewhere, will you right our wrongs?
are there creatures like the gömböc, roaming this
vast and scary planet?
yes, the turtle — the turtle who is not only in its shell,
but the turtle is its shell,
and its shell is a lot like the gömböc,
able to flip itself over
even after they get turned upside down!
can you believe it, what a wonder!
they can flail their arms and legs
and wiggle their cute little tail around
until they eventually right themselves
again, until they are re-aligned with the earth,
so they can see the horizon again…
there are even some turtles who can do this
using gravity alone — can you imagine,
bouncing yourself back using only gravity! whoa…
you turtle, you magnificent reptile, you have evolved
to be the gömböc, evolved to do things
no other shaped animals can do, evolved to be things
no other creature can be…
you embody a thing that decades
(or centuries, I don’t know) of mathematicians
have struggled to prove even exists,
and yet you do…you exist, and you are what you are,
you turtle, you gömböc, and you turtle—you are amazing,
you, turtle, are no joke

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Garbage Notes:

I saw an educational video about a shape called the gömböc. It’s basically a convex form that scientists had hypothesized about back in the 90s, but then in the early 2000s it was proven to exist.

What’s unique about the gömböc is that it has one stable and one unstable equilibrium point, meaning it always rolls to rest on its single stable base. In other words, it can topple over but will always right itself back up.

As cool as it is to discover a new shape, the truth is, the gömböc was in front of us for a long time. It’s the shape of most turtles and tortoises. It’s why they can be knocked over and still get back on their bellies all by themselves.

Now, I’ve always loved these creatures. I love how slow they are. I love how old they get. I love their whole disposition. I like the whole hard-on-the-outside-but-soft-on-the-inside thing they’ve got going on. They are not particularly ferocious, but they endure. Overall there’s a lot about these animals that I personally relate to.

After learning about the gömböc and how the turtle embodies the shape of self-resilience, I had to write a poem about it.

How many times do we get knocked down and still somehow find the willpower to straighten ourselves back up? No matter how long it takes. No matter how slow our progress. Persistence is always part of us.

We may not be shaped like a gömböc, but we certainly can take a lesson from it. After all, we have so much more than a self-righting shell.

We have arms, legs, intelligence, creativity, and language. We have courage, compassion, and collaboration. No matter who knocks you down, with the right mindset and determination, you can flip yourself back over and turn things around.

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Franco Amati 2025

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