A New Kind of Physics

The sun set over the metropolis, it 
wept in my arms.

It was more than poetic. The whole 
world could sense it: matter or energy in 
organic form, in photons of red, in the smiling 
droplets of water. What do they know that we 
don’t? 

Intelligent human, the climax, the 
culmination, the crowning glory of creation. 
But do we have any knowledge? 

We can measure the frequency and 
the wavelength of the sun’s light. We can 
absorb particles of thermal radiation, playful 
creatures, but we can never know the sun’s 
aging interior. 

We can imagine a circle of fire, 
through a process called idealization. An 
elegant form of delusion derived from 
evolutionary theory.

But we cannot know the sun’s heat.

The light waned over the city. It 
calmed my mind, and I could see in all 
directions at once.

NEBULA

Nebula, the Velvet Queen, is a cosmic love poet based in New York. She is the founder of the LadyJams Collective, which organizes indie art events. She has performed at the Brooklyn Wildlife Summer Festival and Bushwick Open Studios, and won the poetry slam at the Green Mill, Chicago, in 2019.