\n<\/p>\n
According to astronomers
the universe is 14 billion years old,
a fact that makes the long scroll
of my life\u2014<\/p>\n
its fine brushstrokes of autumn leaves, inclining
over a mountain pool; the quick,
inscrutable characters that say
something wise & eternal but look
to me like long-legged insects\u2014<\/p>\n
\u2003\u2003so infinitesimally short
that, in reality, I cannot be said
to have lived at all;<\/p>\n
If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n
\u2003\u2003not to mention this day,
starting as usual with coffee & a glance
at the shocking headlines, with their promise
of a dire year ahead, which<\/p>\n
\u2003\u2003cosmologically speaking,
is less than a mole on the cheek of the smallest
unnamed particle skating in an atom of oxygen
exhaled from a single breath of Time;<\/p>\n
\u2003\u2003much less the hour I\u2019ve sat
pondering this strangeness, while the earth\u2014
still a pudgy adolescent in quantum terms\u2014
turned a little on its axis<\/p>\n
\u2003\u2003so that sunlight,
which set out a mere 8 minutes ago
on its singular mission to the kitchen table
could brighten the coiled peel of an orange,<\/p>\n
\u2003\u2003my companion in nothingness,
that has been waiting here
on the saucer beside me
since the beginning.<\/p>\n
If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. Scientific American<\/span> has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a Scientific American<\/span> subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm <\/span>always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" According to astronomersthe universe is 14 billion years old,a fact that makes the long scrollof my life\u2014 its fine brushstrokes of autumn leaves, incliningover a mountain pool; the quick,inscrutable characters that saysomething wise & eternal but lookto me like long-legged insects\u2014 \u2003\u2003so infinitesimally shortthat, in reality, I cannot be saidto have lived at all; On<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[473,5430,2921,2477],"class_list":{"0":"post-28367","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-american","9":"tag-poem","10":"tag-reality","11":"tag-scientific"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}