Where the Quanta Go to Die

All alive are unjustly
Alive. Life is the black hole
Of hunger and intention,

And like the ordinary
Black holes swallowing up light,
Electromagnetic waves

Of all varieties, life
Sort of shines on the inside.
Every molecule involved

Within a living being,
So long as it’s part of it,
Has discovered something weird,

Participates in hunger,
Contributes to consumption,
Waste, growth, and propagation,

Things it never did before,
Things it had no mind to do,
No, nor metabolism.

Inside of life, no outside
Lives. Life wraps life’s world inside.
One imagines the outside

Of life, moseying along,
Not intending anything,
Not wanting for anything,

Getting sucked in, like wavelengths
Through the event horizon,
As if their previous paths

And patterns ceased to exist,
And since what’s outside’s not life,
Life’s trapped captives can’t be missed.