I tried in that moment to
Energize my weariness.
He told me I am empty.
I replied, “To my core.”
He mentioned neutrinos.
Particles so tiny they must be imagined.
“I’m imagining nothing,” I mentioned,
My casual tone belying my formal attire.
(Did I mention I was tired?)
He knew the math got lost
In this circuitous mind I carry.
I looked blankly as his lips dried.
They moved so quickly in the chorus of conversation.
He tried to illustrate the atom
By conducting his arm out across the city.
“They pass right through you,” he smiled
Triumphantly at this revelation.
I stood holding my caviar hor d’oevres and
Surreptitiously set the cracker on a stone railing.
Urgent tugs across my shoulder and
Elbow followed smiles and pulled me along in his draft.
Politely (perhaps), I stopped short within our space.
“I am a positron and you an electron,” I released my grim assessment.
He looked into my eyes as his smile waned, but not completely.
And nodded in recognition, understanding me for the first time.
As he moved away, I stood among the oeuvre of colors
Watched the elegant scene as one atom passed another.
Each smiled and frowned in their turn, yet interceded
This emptiness I am and with acuity I was filled.
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