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Colin Halloran’s Physics of Us is a gentle, clear-eyed collection of love poems exploring moments and memories of connection across time and space. The short lines are honest and immediate, centering the focus on quietly powerful images and revelations that resonate. The
humanity of desire, of wanting to be seen, known, enjoyed, and remembered–and how this pulls at us in ebbs and flows in different relationships and stages of life–is so present in these poems.
Halloran captures the phenomenon of how pieces and versions of us are known so thoroughly by different lovers across our lives–“You who sees the truth in my inversions / real and reflected.”
The dichotomy between–and paradoxical unity of–the you and me are explored with an irresistible realness and reverence here.
-Katherine E. Schneider
The First Law Of Newton
an object at rest stays at rest, an object in motion stays in motion
You said that if you ran
it would be away from me.
So why am I surprised
to find myself alone?
Was it the if that I believed,
clinging to linguistic hope
the lack of certainty
found in when.
It’s not that I don’t trust you
that I didn’t believe you
or didn’t want to.
It’s more that I believed
in us
in sunsets on the Sound
in seaglass found in shadows,
your feet just below the surface
as you raced for a balloon.
But certainty’s still lacking
this love is all unknowns.
And I cling desperately
to if.
So wrap my heart
in concertina wire
so the harder you hold onto it
the more it’s like to bleed.
Then maybe you’ll absorb me
and when you run—it’s clear you will—
you’ll have no choice
but to bring me with you.
“The beauty of Afghanistan is a harsh, extreme beauty. The landscape made me feel small, and for me that begets self-reflection and contemplation.”
Poet, Veteran, Photographer, Teacher, Speaker, Editor, Essayist.
Colin D. Halloran wears many hats, but brings the same passion and commitment to all of his endeavors.
