sunshine and rainfall
and everywhere
the tender shoots of spring
a ruckus at sunrise
brings the dull thump
of something heavy against the glass
and a clump of blooded feathers
left clinging to the wisteria vine
magnolias, days away
from displaying their creamy blooms,
shade terracotta pots
whose rich soil turns flowers into fruit
lemons, blueberries, strawberries
everything fixed
by some quantum sleight-of-hand--
an observer collapsing waves
into this radiant garden
slowly, invisibly
but with no less efficacy
entropy--no theory here--
works its own collapse
past the corner of the library
behind a wall there peers a dead ligustrum
whose brown leaves emit a death rattle
in the stiff breeze
and above it all
in the light-infused bristled tips
of our giant pecan
a cooper's hawk sways back and forth
and between unsteady gusts
picks feathers from his talons
tomorrow I will cut it down--
the dead ligustrum
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Author Notes
Note:
Ligustrum is the genus of a particular type of flowering privet, a hardy shrub or tree that can be found in many home landscaping designs across the United States.
"An observer collapsing waves" is a reference to Niels Bohrs theory that matter at the subatomic level is both particle and wave and therefore does not exist in any fixed position until it is actually observered. It is a fascinating theory and one that deeply disturbed Einstein who was never able to disprove it. If you are interested in an overview of quantum theory, two great books I have read this past year are When We Cease to Understand the World, by Benjamin Labatut and The Grand Biocentric Design, by Dr. Robert Lanza.
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