by Brett Rutherford
There was an instant
amid the blinding heat
of Chaos, when
the first proton popped
into existence.
Later it met up
with the first electron
(more an enslavement
than a partnership
as it was doomed
to circle the proton
and never touch it.)
This set
the cosmic matrix
and more came,
and more, and more,
each one as arrogant
as the first, each one
believing itself
first and foremost.
Be certain:
atoms do not like
one another, repel
except where bound
by their dainty electrons,
whom they exchange
like worn-out mistresses.
Not one of them
calls itself anything.
Nameless, inviolate,
eternal, invisible.
Do not bow down
to cosmic monsters
made up of atoms only.
One is the same
as another.
Not one of them cares
what you think of it.
