wildscape. literary journal

Science
by Thomas Rions-Maehren

Protons
Electrons
Always
Cause
Explosions.
-RZA

I.
furtive electrons, nebulous,
probabilistic ballistics
buzz and hum
to the call of universal laws,
their actions and flow
the thrust we feel. it
permeates the cell walls,
pierces the weightless mind,
causes the dread that kicks
the pit of our stomach in the silence,
triggers the dexterous, intuitive
movement of the toes
with every step.

II.
disheveled galaxies appear at our moment of despair and cluelessness like professors – absent-minded, blithe, wise – late for class, their glasses cracked, their smiles genuine.

III.
let me ask, do you
              know yourself better
              from your flipped reflection
in the mirror, the same, old eyes staring back
at you, a new freckle or scar maybe, or from living, from feeling
             the subzero wind cut through your jacket,
             the pain of
                          stagnation, the elation
             of a blue sky?

IV.
science is the looking glass.

V.
                            everything there is to know about the universe
                            is rattling around somewhere between
                            the dainty, little hairs on your skin
                            and the black hole of fear in your soul. the mysteries
                            of the cosmos
                                          i am.

VI.
we are sacks of goop held
             together     by the surface
tension of water. our minds
                           evolved to avoid
the sharp end of a tiger, not
to nestle cognizance of all existence
                           in the pre-made, pre-fitted boxes of our psyche.

VII.
when the chalkboards have been wiped, the pages
of our textbooks stamped by muddy boot prints,
our computers neutralized by the deluge of a new spring,
AI babbling endless strings of probable next words
into the void of space, what will we say
that it is that we lost? a lot, certainly,
but will it be who we are?

VIII.
CONCLUSION.
in this poem, the dichotomy of human understanding and human experience was explored. a discussion probed whether or not knowledge is learned or lived, wisdom true or illusory. despite the lack of a satisfactory answer – or even question – being found, somewhere, moisture in the air was condensed on a microscopic particle, which was augmented by its ascending and descending, before being splattered upon a fallen maple leaf. additionally, blood vessels were dilated and heart rates elevated by the hormonal indicators exchanged in a tender kiss between a young couple caught in the storm. areas for further research include the strained conformations of twisted molecules in the eye being liberated by photons reflected from waterfalls and forests and the movements of neurons being stimulated via compression waves created by the babble of crystalline creeks, the cry of fertile toads, and the compositions ethereal songbirds.

about the author // Thomas Rions-Maehren