Sex Life of a Photon

Michael McCormick

Photons reincarnate 
in your mirror

Race to your green eyes 
jostle like sperm

And die upon your retina
sated by your face

The Science

This poem was inspired by the emergence of modern optics in the early twentieth century, especially Max Planck’s 1900 work on blackbody radiation and Albert Einstein’s 1905 work on the photoelectric effect. Einstein later lamented that “fifty years of conscious brooding have brought me no closer to the answer to the question: What are light quanta?” Light has entranced mankind for millennia and reducing it to photons has not robbed it of its power and mystique. The journey of a photon from a pretty face to a mirror - including its absorption, reemission, and return to the eyes - conveys beauty as well as energy.

The Poet

Michael McCormick's poems have appeared in magazines ranging from Poetica Review to Scientific American. He also writes literary and science fiction. Mike lives with his wife amid a growing collection of books, vinyl records, ceramic owls, and other anachronisms. Learn more at www.mikemccormick.org.

Next poem: The Future of Life by Dearbhaile Casey