Makinde’s Quantum World

He believes physics is not about

fancy mathematical formulas

with elegant Xs and Ys,

or discovering elusive particles.

Its inner heart

is about understanding our world —

broken and fractured 

under the gravity of the eternal.

An everyday world that

is wildly weird at the

quantum level,

where he studies systems

that are Alice in Wonderland topsy-turvy worlds —

entangled,

like silky strands of a spider’s web,

woven tightly into our lives by our weaving eyes

woven loosely by what we do not see

Tangled

with the air touched then tangled,

with skin brushed then tangled,

with the apple touched at the supermarket then tangled,

with the tear wiped then woven away,

tanged with even things very distant like Mars dust,

that unravel themselves when

touched by our gaze—

revealing their hidden essence —

like a string pulled to unwind a knot.

Footprints of the infinite sparkle

in this teeny tiny quantum world

where he tracks God

and unravels

delicate threads of the hidden divine.

Miriam Manglani