Feathered electrons nipping through the air
on a sugary buzz, they click and whistle,
twittering like computer servers,
firing through airy lines of possibility.
They circle each other in tiny tornados,
impersonating bees who can only dream
of being as agile, swooping into the sweet
tasting feeders, chasing each other at Mach speeds.
Sat on a telephone line, they are tiny black bulges
on the cable – momentarily frozen conversations.
In micro-seconds they are darting dots again, pulsing
in random order, unpredictable, stopping
on tightly reigned g-forces, wings furiously
folding back layers of disbelieving air,
defying gravity in their quantum flapping,
then reeling backwards into the trees,
back into their own tiny bodies. Potentially
everywhere at once – only seeing them
makes them decide where they want to be,
which laws of nature to obey. Or not.
——
Matthew James Friday has had poems published in the following UK and worldwide magazines and literary journals: A Handful of Stones, Bolts of Silk, The Brasilia Review, Cadenza, Cake Magazine, Carillon, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal (Hong Kong), Dreamcatcher, Earth Love, Eastlit (East Asia), Erbacce, Envoi, Finger Dance Festival, Gloom Cupboard, IS&T (Ink, Sweat & Tears), The Journal, The New Writer, Orbis, Sentinel Literary Quarterly, Sonic Boom, Third Wednesday (USA), Of Nepalese Clay (Nepal), The Peacock Journal, Pens on Fire, Pulsar Poetry, Rear View Poetry, Red Ink, South Bank Poetry Magazine, The Dawntreader, We Are a Website New Literary Journal (Singapore) and Writing Magazine.