The Affected Observer
written by: Jim Murdoch
The observer effect refers to the established scientific principle that the act of observing or measuring a phenomenon inherently alters its state.
No one wants to read a poem
someone’s read before them.
Not really.
They’d rather be first.
They’d prefer to be the only.
It’s a thing. Things are… fickle.
But here’s what people forget:
a poem may present as art,
but science is what makes it tick.
A poem is read into being, not staying.
It is the quantumest thing
in the whole universe.
It may not be all things to all men,
but it will be many things to many,
and never the same thing twice.
Jim Murdoch has been writing poetry for fifty years and has graced the pages of many now-defunct literary magazines and websites and a few, like Ink, Sweat and Tears and Poetry Scotland that are still hanging on in there. For ten years he ran the literary blog The Truth About Lies but now lives quietly in Scotland with his wife and, whenever the mood takes him, next door’s cat. He has published two books of poetry, a short story collection and four novels: Jim, not the cat.
Latest posts by Jim Murdoch (see all)
- The Affected Observer - July 8, 2026
- The Meaning of Feeling - January 2, 2026
- Normal is What Normal Does - August 16, 2025
