“The thing is that if you form bubbles, then you are liable to come up with more than one bubble. And these bubbles are likely to collide. And this will give rise to inhomogeneous universe. And that is not consistent with what we observe today.”

– Stephen Hawking

And I watch the summer people
in their most vulnerable state.
Colliding to stay clean, they take
handfuls of sand. The neon
parasols and their versions
of shade upon the beach chairs
flap. Even their shadows
are dragged, spread, moved.

And I will always think
of the universe as the
water’s surface; man drowns
and man flails with only
enough strength to produce
inconspicuous ripples.

…

About the Author:

More than six hundred poems and short stories by Kristine Ong Muslim have been published or are forthcoming in over three hundred journals, magazines, and anthologies worldwide. Her work has recently appeared in Blue Fifth Review, Dog Verus Sandwich, Farrgo’s Wainscot, Front Porch, Glassfire Magazine, GUD Magazine and Pank