Supersubatomicism

I am not now, nor have I ever been
Altogether nothing.
                                 Matter equals
Energy relative to constant light,
And, even in vacuums free of ether,
Fields constrain matter in potentia.

An unnecessary complication,
"I am."
          That "I am" trips up all of us
In the habit of thinking in language,
Whether that language be mathematics,
As I imagine it, coming on strong
In the minds of those freed from translation,
Or just some human, provincial belief
That a phrase learned from elders describes things.

Not now, nor have I ever been, nothing.