JESSE DELONG

FEEDBACK LOOPS

There are ripples in space
               time, gravitational waves, too small

too see. We have seen them. Now,

much larger, inflated when the universe—

                      like a popcorn kernel—
                             first burst into existence.

                                   Physicists, astronomers, atheists—
              the religion of skeptics—are raising

their hands, sliding pens into pockets,
& taking bows. But so too

are the believers.
They are fitting this theory into their theory.

The universe, they say, must be subject

to cause & effect: no aftermath
comes without an agent:

                                           of change, of beginnings,

of propulsion—of god.

                  This is the transactive theory of reading
      the world, Holland says, & in this case

the universe is a poem.

Jesse DeLong teaches composition and poetry at Southern University. Previous work has appeared in the anthologies Best New Poets 2011 and Feast: poetry and recipes for a full seating at dinner as well as the journals Colorado Review, Mid American Review, Typo, Indiana Review and others.