Einstein phoned the other day.
Wanted to speak quite urgently
with my dog, Derek:
said that Derek’s theory of ‘quantum stiles’
was interesting but lacked empirical evidence
and wasn’t supported by the mathematics.
Derek disagreed:
described the process of walking with me,
taking the early morning river route
along the side of the Kent under Cumbrian skies.
Every gate and stile a quantum barrier,
separating countless possibilities
of constantly branching parallel universes:
facts on the far side of each wall blurred,
until the stile is crossed
with a new reality created through observation
… and sometimes rewarded with a biscuit.
*
Jonathan Humble lives in Cumbria. He edits The Dirigible Balloon, showcasing poetry for children, and writes regularly for the Yorkshire Times, reviewing poetry collections and publishing articles on a range of subjects. He delivers poetry workshops in schools for Wordsworth Grasmere and appeared as the Poet in a Fridge for the Radio Cumbria Poetry Takeaway during the BBC Contains Strong Language Festival at Tullie House in Carlisle. https://dirigibleballoon.org/
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