Size / / /

When the laws of physics

have nailed and sealed

the universe complete,

down to the last stray

molecule and rebel atom,

when even the quarks

Charm and Strange rise

to a balanced breakfast,

ontological questions

will become passe.

When the Unified Field

Theory is lucid fact,

not wistful speculation,

there will no longer

be the barest chance

of turning baser metals

to golden illumination,

and metaphysics will

be reduced to no more

than a bedtime game.

When the final truth has

been signed and delivered,

the last alchemist will

retreat to a birdsong wood

where green still thrives,

near a rushing stream

clean as a burning flame,

clear as a lover's glance

he has long since fathomed

in his deepest sublimations.




Bruce Boston is the author of forty-seven books and chapbooks, including the novels The Guardener's Tale and Stained Glass Rain. His writing has received the Bram Stoker Award, a Pushcart Prize, the Asimov's Readers Award, and the Grand Master Award of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. You can read more about him at www.bruceboston.com and see some of his previous work in our archives.
Current Issue
18 Nov 2024

Your distress signals are understood
Somehow we’re now Harold Lloyd/Jackie Chan, letting go of the minute hand
It was always a beautiful day on April 22, 1952.
By: Susannah Rand
Podcast read by: Claire McNerney
In this episode of the Strange Horizons Fiction podcast, Michael Ireland presents Little Lila by Susannah Rand, read by Claire McNerney. Subscribe to the Strange Horizons podcast: Spotify
Issue 11 Nov 2024
Issue 4 Nov 2024
Issue 28 Oct 2024
Issue 21 Oct 2024
By: KT Bryski
Podcast read by: Devin Martin
Issue 14 Oct 2024
Issue 7 Oct 2024
By: Christopher Blake
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
Issue 30 Sep 2024
Issue 23 Sep 2024
By: LeeAnn Perry
Art by: nino
Issue 16 Sep 2024
Issue 9 Sep 2024
Load More