Affecting Phenomena by Janet Dale | Really System: Issue Nine

Affecting Phenomena

Janet Dale

I. Reflection

We’re defying physics because:

the angle at which electromagnetic waves
are cast on a surface equals
the angle at which they bounce back,

→/
=
←/

but shorter wavelengths bend
or reflect very little
traveling on a line of sight.

So maybe we’re never close enough to one another for it to work.

II. Diffraction

Too many obstacles.
Interference. Clashing wavelengths.

What is the frequency of love, after all?

A growl you make meandering, waking.
A squeal—my heart—putting on the brakes.
Something in between?

III. Absorption

I take you up, take you in.
My energy becomes your energy.

Maybe we’ll collapse soon
like dying stars.

IV. Polarization

We’re molecules oscillating:
Single. Linear.
Circular. Elliptical.
Clockwise. Counter clockwise.

Reaching in different directions.

V. Scattering

The truth:

Particle-particle collision between
atoms, electrons, photons,
our hearts.

.. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..-
-. --- - / . -. --- ..- --. .... .-.-.-

Reflected angles diffused,
forced to deviate from
our original trajectory.

Always to be apart.

Although Janet Dale claims Memphis as home, currently she lives in Georgia where she teaches First Year Writing at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. Her prose has appeared in Zone 3, Atticus Review, Crack the Spine, among others. She tweets a lot over @THEsisterjanet

ISSUE NINE: Y'all Reset My S | next poem →