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.