Conversation With An Atom Poem by Bill Cantrell

I am but a humble atom,
nothing more,
nothing less
From the womb beyond the subatomic,
we happened to come about
In terms that you cannot understand,
We have our own event horizons
With moats to keep you at arms lengths
In terms you can understand,
If you will accept it,
Then listen,
You say your universe is infinite,
Ever expanding?
Well, ours also is ever expanding,
In the opposite direction,
Truly the term outside-in is most fitting
Yet it eventually comes to a door,
Your term alternate dimension,
Is but the paint on this door,
And you have the color all wrong, including the material
How old?
A bit rude of you to ask our age,
But least to say,
We have not always been,
As your crude attempts to pinpoint it,
Shows one thing in this regard,
you are correct
We have a beginning also,
As you
We share the same world,
Yet most of you are,
How do you term,
Bad neighbors?
Anyway, we were placed here for your sakes,
yes, created for you,
not you for us
Do you care to go deeper?
Very well,
back to that door
Behind it,
time exists but it's pace is calibrated,
to the point of reference given at the table of decisions
It can crawl, walk, run or freeze,
but it cannot walk backwards
We hold the keys to dimensions that you are unaware
Elements are our rainbows,
and our song is plans within plans within plans
Our dreams are intriguing in mathematical terms,
and we are quite poetic,
though our meter is placed far above you,
being you are so undeserving
We allow you to have a taste of our rhythm
Math to us is as breathing without giving thought
You can hold us without touching,
as we trick your skin with an invisible membrane
Dark matter?
Funny you ask
You bury your dead,
as we do, and as with us,
some go lost in the void,
or as you would term, lost at sea
There is a realm between cause and effect,
you cannot accept
You look at us and shout,
'complexities within complexities
Then you come to a consensus,
'Such order and complexities,
certainty are bound by physical laws!
You are right in this assessment
Yes order beyond anything man has imagined


Now let us question you
This thing you call love?
There are some among us who have speculated,
as to its meaning
We cannot cross that threshold,
as it is our paradox
Yes, we with so much power
make inquiry of you,
on blended knee?
Why do you pause?
It seems you know more about us,
than love
And as regards knowing us,
you have barely touched the surface
How can this be?

Now we have been forced to come to a consensus
You contradict yourselves on its interpretations,
leaving us in the dark
So, when you figure it out,
please give us a call,
our ears are wide open