Quandry

QUANDARY 

They said the deserts empty. 
They said that space is too. 
They said you’d go for many miles 
and find there’s nothing new.

We said there’s life on moons.
We said there’s life on mars!
Yet nothing found we, deep in space, 
nor in between the stars.

They sought for tiny creatures, 
too small for their own eyes. 
They sought minutes, 
in microscopes or LHC, for ties.

We gave a name to quarks,
and to particles that spin! 
We gave the names to each 
new one, as we collided them.   

They jettisoned in spacesuits, 
and in deep diving suits in seas. 
They jettisoned in obvious spots, 
to what’s hidden in deep freeze.

The finite became the infinite, 
the infinite, finite! 
We found substance in the emptiness
and the emptiness outright. 

The something found is all at once. 
There’s something there and here.
There’s subatomic bits and drabs, 
and a chunky biosphere. 

Who said there’s lots of nothing there!
What said there’s nothing here?
The space between the molecules,
proves nothing’s everywhere. 

Yet looking far away up close 
and close from far away...
There’s elegance and substance  
in, all that we survey. 

-Edlynn Nau 
© May 12, 2018
Copyright © | Year Posted 2018

Poem

Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Be the first to comment on this poem. Encourage this poet.

Get a Premium Membership
Turn off ads, get more exposure for your poetry, and get more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace