Free quarks don’t decay by Swapna Sanchita

To every particle that exists in space

There must be another, a counterpart.

For every quark, an anti-quark

Even if they never ever embrace.

Things must naturally come in pairs.

Or was it just the good ones that come in twos?

Maybe when there is just the one, that it feels a need,

To splits itself apart, through blood, sweat and tears.

And strangely enough, throughout our lives

We strive to return to the singularity,

From which the duality we have was made.

A constant need for change, on which ontic thrives.

The free quarks, I was taught once upon a time, they decay.

Unbound, they will not couple or stay in a cluster,

A lot like me and you, every once in a while, they will come unglued,

Free quarks don’t decay, they just haven’t been seen flying away.

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Swapna Sanchita is a poet, a writer, and an educator who studied engineering in college and went on to obtain a degree in management. Her collection of poems, Des Vu was published in June 21 and was a bestseller on Amazon India. She has contributed to a number of anthologies and journals. Swapna lives in Ranchi, India with her husband and two sons.