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This writing was accepted for publication in the 108 page perfect-bound ISSN#/ISBN# issue/book “War of Water” cc&d, v282 (the April 2018 issue) Order this as a 6"x9" paperback book:  |
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Second Shift at the Fermilab
M.C. Rydel
We’ve set up picnic tables and chairs
In the old particle accelerator,
Contaminated the ion chamber
With cheeseburgers, soda, and chips,
Brought in a beach ball,
And encouraged the staff to strip,
Lose the lab coats, and form a conga line.
The whole second shift dancing in our underwear,
ID badges swinging on the elastic
As a supervisor flips the switch.
Unhappy management helps insurrections succeed,
And we gauge our success,
By measuring the immeasurable,
Observing the unobservable
As paper plates and sexy lab assistants tumble inside
A two-mile tube at 70% the speed of light.
I am here and I am there.
Everything else is everywhere
Uncertainty materializes as both particle and wave,
Like the moment a hot air balloon launches,
Like a conversation with a heretic,
Or how I imagine an identical twin
Would have turned out had she lived.
I stand in the middle of Fermilab,
A shop steward made of light
Part of a crazy collective,
A cobweb of colleagues, spinning,
Sparkling, time travelling souls.
I just wanted to be part of an experiment,
Put in my hours from four to midnight,
Watch my young co-workers leave to meet at a pub
And never even realize that I just changed everything.
