Dr Sam Illingworth writes poem about Human Sensor

The Emperor’s New Clothes

Following the contours of our environment,

You reflect our filthy habits and our dirty secrets.

With cables for tiebacks and batteries for padding,

Your virginal surface undulates

Beneath the acidity of our sweat,

And colours dance across your surface

As a memory of what could have been.

Nothing about you is natural;

A paper beehive amongst a field of cotton.

Yet you are the one who dares speaks out

To tell us that the dress rehearsal is over;

It is the future.

This is a short poem written in response to the ‘Human Sensor’ project by Kasia Molga and Invisible Dust, a series of performances that reveal the presence of particulates through hi-tech illuminated clothing to audiences during walks around various locations in Manchester.

Sam Illingworth is a Senior Lecturer in Science Communication at Manchester Metropolitan University, where he researches the interplay between science and poetry.