The Measurement Problem

The Measurement Problem / Joshua Alan Sturgill

My friend the Scientist
says I startle the world into being
says everything is uncertain
until I call for cake and wine.

So I turn my thought toward
the thoughts of the birds: to cardinals
conjuring acorns, to meadowlarks
weaving wildflowers, to sparrows

who arrange the world
through the grace of appetite.
My friend the scientist says gravity
is outlier among the fundamentals,

weak and barely accountable.
But how much beauty
over how vast a distance it makes,
like an invitation that always

reaches its intended recipients
and collapses every wave
onto its intended shore.
My friend the scientist warns me:

attention is a species
of alchemy. The stars watch you,
as well. Thus you measure
your mutual enlightenment