Finding the God Particle

Without . . . God particles,

"atoms would have no integrity,

so there would be no chemical bonding,

no stable structures—no liquids or solids

—and, of course no physicists and no reporters."

Stephen Fried, "The Race for the Secret of the Universe"

It is something and nothing,

the God particle;

everything else is mass:

tables, chairs and books,

the lint we remove from dryer filters,

even the air we breathe.

But the God particle

is like the matrix of a poem,

invisible force,

slowing what is born

massless at light speed,

pulling, binding the words together

until it takes form.

We cannot see where it begins

only the words of where it's been:

the subatomics of creation,

colliding in darkness,

taking shape in the ashes

of beauty, desire and pain.

At Fermi Lab

scientists find the secret

of universal cohesion,

not in their particle accelerator:

but in their luminous dreams.