The Particle Underground Poem by Hans Ostrom

'With more data, suspected new particle vanishes.' Science News,3 September 2016, p.13


If scientists had long suspected
the particle, why didn't they take
more precautions? They left more
data in plain sight. The particle
absconded, taking data with it.

This wasn't a case of quantum
hiding, a small physics joke,
or a Schrödinger shuffle. No.
This was theft. Obviously,

the particle thought more data
would reveal too much about
its identity. What exactly
was it trying to keep secret?
Perhaps crimes against
other particles. Maybe a particularly
unsavory past. The vast
underground of particles
owns mysteries we can't solve.