Even here quantum measurement
depends on the alternatives
of hidden variables
or sudden collapse
when one thing
becomes
another thing
it might have been before
or simultaneously
could be.
What needs to be
determined now
as we sit motionless
across the table
mind and body
making fate
in this secluded bar,
our bar
on this block
of relative entanglements
the question is
which one of us
is leaving,
who is left behind.
Stan Sanvel Rubin’s poems have appeared in US magazines such as Agni, Georgia Review, Poetry Northwest and others, as well as in China, Canada, Belgium, and Ireland. Four full-length collections include There. Here. (Lost Horse Press) and Hidden Sequel (Barrow Street Poetry Book Prize). Born in Philadelphia, Stan has lived on the north Olympic Peninsula of Washington for more than twenty years.