What nothing
are you dead
busy
busy doing what
Well what about that
it’s taking over you know
who?
Oh I thought you meant them
Yes them
Yes they are taking over but there is
nothing we can do about it
so there
just wait for the little
buggers to get out of their ships and…
All you’re doing is wandering around
looking for something
somewhere
somehow
the beans must get into the jar
the screws must all be tight
Germanium
by Janet Kuypers
of Scars Publications
from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series
Because the planet Neptune
was recently discovered,
Winkler in the late 1800s
decided to name the element
he discovered “Neptunium,”
but another element already
tried to lay claim to that name
(and still a different element
got the name “Neptunium”)…
So Winkler decided to name
his newfound element Germanium,
from Latin Germania,
in honor of his homeland.
Germania is known for
its high refraction (along with
its low optical dispersion),
making it perfect for things like
wide-angle camera lenses,
but is also used for microscopy
and the core part of optical fibers.
And yeah, I could go on
about silicon-Germanium alloys
used for semiconductors
in new circuitry, fiber optics,
infrared optics, electronics,
metallurgy and chemotherapy,
But when I heard chemotherapy
I started looking into it, because
when it comes to chemotherapy,
Germanium’s role in cancer
treatments has been widely debated —
the American Cancer Society
found no evidence that Germanium
Helps fight cancer, and the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
found that when Germanium
was a nutritional supplement,
Germanium even actually “presents
potential human health hazard”.
#
And I’m sorry, when I hear “Germanium”,
I think “Germania”, and I know that
Germania was the Greek and Roman
geographic term for the region,
but it still makes me think
of the “World Capital Germania”, with
Adolf Hitler’s vision for the future
of Germany, with the projected renewal
of the German capital Berlin
during the Nazi reign. And Albert Speer,
the “first architect of the Third Reich”
(and probably the only architect)
produced many of the plans
for the rebuilt city, but only a fraction
was realized. The Berlin Olympic Stadium
for the 1936 Summer Olympics was built.
Speer also designed a new Chancellery,
with a hall twice as long as the Hall
of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles,
but the second Chancellery
was destroyed by the Soviet army
in 1945, and almost no other buildings
planned for Berlin (and Hitler’s
“Germania”) were ever built.
#
Some compounds of Germanium
are highly reactive and very dangerous
to humans even on exposure.
I mean, Germanium had similarities
with the elements arsenic (used for
chemical weapons) and antimony
(another toxic chemical element),
so maybe it makes sense that I can’t help
but equate it with Hitler’s plans
that followed mass genocide.
So I have to keep reminding myself
of the uses for Germanium in electronics,
and remind myself that the most notable
physical characteristics of Germania
make it perfect for optics, and things
like wide-angle camera lenses (which the
photographer in me can’t help but love).
Because although Germanium can have
some very bad connections,
it can also do things to help us out
so much in our lives as well.
JASMINE
to be the bird
in a cage
next to my caged friend
has indeed been remarkable…love
my friend
who gave to me a prescious tear
who gave to me
the owl, pussy cat,
three white feathers
and a rainbow
it was the right turn thru the maze
that brought us from the hill to the valley below
it was the will
of going on that lasted thru the night
birthing a sky of blushing dawn
that gathered rainbows in cotton clouds
we
filled the moon with feathers in the passing
and dreamed
the most perfect dream
we could think of…
the jasmine
fragrant in this predawn air
fills these cages of weird design
time
well spent let’s smoke to that
and all the humor we have shared
and love no longer feared
salude!
– Vera Jackson a.k.a Edy Lou Benjamin
he threw the sign down
it landed on the closed side
the humble side
he waited
he waited some more
there were logs left over
for the fire
but he never lit it
the dry cold whiteness of the embers
stared at him from the hearth
he shivered
These have been lying around goofing off on my hard drive for decades now.
david michael jackson
Barium
by Janet Kuypers
from the “ Periodic Table of Poetry” series
As Christmas approaches,
I get my glass ornaments out
for decorating the tree,
and it reminds me
of how the element Barium
is used in glass making
to improve the luster,
which is perfect for these ornaments.
Because I always thought
that Barium was used
to coat fluorescent lamps,
or add to fireworks
to make them a vibrant green
(not unlike a Christmas tree),
or even as a contrast agent
when taking X-rays,
and yeah, Barium compounds
can even halt the leaking
of X-rays from CRT TV sets…
A mineral containing Barium
is also a rare blue
fluorescent gemstone,
that‚s even the official
state gem of California.
So I guess it does make sense
that Barium could also improve
the luster of glassware…
But when I looked for
more information on Barium,
that‚s when I read
in the New York Daily News
and the Daily Mail
that a Tennessee woman
was actually being poisoned
by her doctor husband
with Barium. This woman,
living on Lookout Mountain,
was suffering from a mysterious
illness for months, until
she found out
that her physician husband
had been poisoning her
for five months by putting
Barium in her morning coffee.
Wow, so I suppose having a little
Barium in your system
once or twice in your life
for an X-ray won‚t due you in…
The element Barium can
add luster to glassware, or
give an intense green in fireworks,
coat fluorescent lamps, or stop
X-rays from coming to you
through your TV screen —
the element Barium can
even help doctors see better
in X-rays to help someone‚s life.
But don‚t put it in your morning
coffee every day,
because if you give someone
too much of what otherwise
seems like a good thing,
it can also be what kills you…