Protonic Haibun[1]

It had been dark for a considerable time. He strayed in the dense mist as if being awakened yet with his eyes still closed, until one day there came to be a light spot, out of nowhere, like a grain of rice dropped onto an endless sheet of nori. Later, he met the brothers & sisters, all of whom were humbly weightless; all of whom were positively charged and desperate alike. Sharing the dazzlement, they marched in rows despite the shrinking territory, where he felt a fever, about 10 million kelvins[2]. As he walked, someone ran into him, cut his wounded arm clear off, and said we have to unite; we have to make it powerful again. Some neutrinos fled in the blink of an eye from the inferno, taking the horrible message to every single corner of the universe: Everyone is crazy; they are trying to start a REVOLUTION.

After losing so much[3], they produced helium, even enough carbon and oxygen for a living. Yet he was told that the mission was incomplete, because they still needed iron, because either capitalism or socialism begins with the colorful bricks. It made him suspicious, although he said nothing. Most of them said nothing; as stardust, they were always on their ways that led to somewhere or nowhere, exalting freedom from loneliness, regardless of that freedom would only sprout out from the heart full of ashes.

On the very last day, he continued building (right before its collapse) the brightest lighthouse ever, hoping to illuminate the dismayed protons lightyears afar. Submerged in the vortex of sparks, he was obsessed with the viscous scintillation, without knowing that everything had just dispersed, in seconds, into that mist again. But oh, how I wish to tell him about the legacy[4] that cost his negligible life. The legacy includes a glass mug filled with honey plum tea. The legacy includes a reticent fork on our table.

Fireworks for two years[5].

Sounds froze in the vacuum,

so no one could hear.

[1] Haibun is a poetry form that combines prose and haiku. This piece describes the lifespan of a proton, the smallest unit of the nuclear fusion reactions inside stars’ cores.

[2] This is the minimum temperature that allows “Proton-Proton Chain,” the fusion reaction that powers the sun, to happen.

[3] A mass of 600 million tons will be lost each second during the proton interaction.

[4] Stellar nucleosynthesis introduces the most common chemical elements to the universe.

[5] The supernova of 1504 was recorded to remain visible from the earth for two years by ancient Chinese astronomers.