At the edge
of our field of vision
galaxies recede
at the speed of light.
This is the furthest
we can see.
Within reach
of our manufacturing base
we produce neutrinos
with mass <0.120 eV/c2.*
It is the least
we can do.
_________
*The obscurity of this stanza is the result of trying to repeat the formal pattern of the first (to make it a pangrammatical supplement.) The visible (what can be seen) must be set against the manipulable (what can be done). But, given the enticing prospect of neutrino factories, I hoped that "manufacturing" might serve instead of "manipulation". I regret that decision now and will have to write another take on this. I'm trying to get at the idea that there is a maximum limit on our seeing and a minimum limit to our doing. It seems to me that controlling a neutrino is the most precise thing we can do. It's the smallest action we can take, the smallest mass we can direct. Someone with more physics than me might come up with a better example. In both cases there must be technological mediation (a telescope, an accelerator). What we can see with the naked eye and do with our bare hands is another matter.
