The Young Experiment

In dating and quantum mechanics,
a sure thing is no thing at all.
Examined, possibilities collapse: one brilliant
array of electron collision
reduced, sweetheart, like my highschool
shiksa drinkin’ whiskey downstairs
on the couch, lips curled,
saying she could unstitch every inch
of an ear with her tongue or more in the way
physicists might say theta sub x theta sub p’s
greater than/equal to an h-bar over two,
like the way that we giggled, the way that we broke
up to every Alphabet City rooftop
where we didn’t have one damn word to say,
staring at those greasy stars. It’s inevitable
how certain I am every time
she’s the one—the sum
of two bands—the way we are always
made from something certain until
I look too close.

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Sam Preminger is a trans-nonbinary, Jewish writer and publisher. They hold an MFA from Pacific University and serve as the Editor-in-Chief of NAILED Magazine. You can find their poetry in North Dakota Quarterly, Michigan Quarterly Review, Narrative, and Yes Poetry, among other publications. Their chapbook, Cosmological Horizons, is forthcoming from Kelsay Books (Summer 2022). They live in Portland, OR, where they’ve acquired too many house plants. For more info, visit sampreminger.com.