They live in a tiny world
Of empty space and gravity,
Of zip-zip motion and crazy eights.
They come in huge numbers
That we have no names for,
And they live to break apart bonds.
We’d keep them together,
But when do they listen?
It’s all a game of just the right time.
There are those pesky electrons
That weigh next to nothing,
And we all want to be like them.
The smaller we are, the more we can keep;
But the polished ones just lose it.
They come and they go,
Like wayward children
Until all we can hear are goodbyes.
And even the ionic crystals will tell you:
You can’t hold on if they're not your own.
Neutrons are narcissists but
We once believed their lies.
They said we were equals,
And then brought home their isotopes –
Now what are we to do?
Those silly electrons are outsiders,
But still we’d like to get to know them.
But we’re blocked by our wardens,
Angry oafs that keep us from running.
So we’re a happy family: the Nucleons.
Then we’re all so alike,
Robots confined to the laboratories.
We’d run away from our monotony
Because no one wants an eternity
Of looking into the same old mirror.
But we keep in our corners,
And what’s the use of attracting
If we never meet our opposites?
That’s the trouble with not being seen –
We can’t even slip through the cracks.
