Love in the Time of Science

for every action there is an
equal
and
opposite
reaction

so I'm trying to break it down--
does that mean that if I
advance
2 inches to kiss you
you will retreat 2 more
to
reject me?

or does it mean that you will
advance those inches
in my direction
and the velocity of our
mouths pressing
will send shockwaves to
our fingertips

because I understand
the laws of kinetic energy
but trying to apply it to
double negatives
has got me trying to
decipher
language from science

and that's difficult for me
you see I aced English
but failed chemistry

so maybe YOU could break it down for me

see I'm trying to understand
if I take your hand
will you pull away
or can I convince you to stay
resist the magnetic
push
of polar opposites
and press your palm into mine

or does Newton's first law mean
that we'll always miss?
what goes up must come down

so does it even matter if we kiss?

I mean, even if we overcome that
other law
if we can convince science that
language is right
press our bodies together
and catch electricity
like we've got a key
and a kite

does that falling apple mean
that in the end
we'll still be reduced to
sorting records and books,
fighting over a wagon wheel table
and looking for that kit and key
desperate to recapture
the chemistry

maybe my
scientific theory
is just an excercise in
metaphors and similes

you need me like two molecules
of hydrogen and one of oxygen

your love is any object
falling constant at 9.8
meters per second
gauranteed in a vacuum

but we don't live in a vacuum
and while scientific inquiry
claims to be infallible
literary fantasy is anything
but

so where does that leave us?

sitting in this car at one in the morning
straddling Shakespeare and Einstein
I'm still not sure how to proceed
but I think you can help me

you see, whereas I have only Dorothy Parker
I feel like you have Slyvia Plath and Marie Curie
You understand both sides of this anomaly
So, I'm asking you now, without language or science
could you please just kiss me?