I had a girlfriend who said she could see auras,
lambent fields of energy suffusing every human
all the colors from ruby through ultraviolet

(We all radiate about a hundred watts,
mostly in the infrared.
I doubt she could see it.)

But if
she really could see even a fraction
even a tiniest portion
of the energy inherent in every human,
Einstein's energy
--if we truly could reach our utmost potential--
her inner eye would be
not merely dazzled
but blinded.

--Geoffrey A. Landis

first published in Asimov's Science Fiction, June 2010
photo by Geoffrey A. Landis 2007

Links

Iron Angels

Page by Geoffrey A. Landis
2010