Month: September 2013

Cesium, “Periodic Table of Poetry” poem by Chicago poet Janet Kuypers

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Cesium

Janet Kuypers

from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series (#055, Cs)

Is this the best of times?
Is this the worst of times?
Or is this just
             one of those times?

Only humans understand time —
where did all the time go?
Do we even know?
Time slips away
as we look for ways
to keep time every day
right down to the nanosecond.

Because without my Cesium,
I couldn’t be so obsessed
with being on time
for absolutely everything…

Without Cesium clocks,
everyone would be forced
to be their clueless selves
when it comes to their time
in this global village…

We can thank Cesium-133
for producing identical radiation
at exactly the same frequency,
which makes Cesium perfect
for the Cesium atomic clock
that monitors time globally
in such perfect detail.

Perfect for my obsession with time.

But I have to remember
that with Cesium or without,
time is only a human construct…
I’ll need to check my watch,
and remind myself of this
at times like these.

Facebook Ten Commandments

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Thou shall have no other websites before me.
All other websites must present themselves to me and beg to be noticed.
Thou shall not kill thy page.
Thou shalt like thy friends and some of their posts
Thou shall not post too much.
Thou shall not get an account for thy cat, thy dog or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
Thou shalt promote thy post.
Thou shall make no craven image in the shape of twitter birds.
Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s likes
Thou shalt like this post.

david michael jackson

Cerium, “Periodic Table of Poetry” poem by Chicago poet Janet Kuypers

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Cerium

by Janet Kuypers

from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series (#58, Ce)
including the poem “Jumping from the Skyline to the Clouds”
8/6/13

Joining commuters driving
toward the Chicago Loop,

I watched majestic skyscrapers
frame the skyline,

as I witnessed over Lake Michigan
early morning clouds —

thin at the top, each cloud looked
like a snow-capped mountain,

framing this flat-land city, and
surrounding the skyscraper skyline…

But all those clouds
were only formed in the mornings

by the early morning weather,
pulling water daily from Lake Michigan.

When the water from the lake
is warmer than the dew point,

water rises until the air is cold enough
so that lake water forms those clouds.

But the thing is, Lake Michigan
is more than hydrogen and oxygen —

at times they even warn the public
to not go into the unsafe water

(the same water Chicago filters
for everyone to shower in, or drink).

So I checked some of the studies
on what foreign compounds

Lake Michigan actually contains —
at times you can find everything

from cadmium, mercury, lead or zinc,
to copper, chromium, even selenium.

That list included harmful elements,
but the numbers that were really

off the charts came from Cerium.
Cerium acts like calcium

in the human body, and you can
find a lot of Cerium in tobacco plants —

and with Cerium’s moderate toxicity,
prolonged exposure can lead to

itching, heat sensitivity or skin lesions.
And wait a minute, Cerium can

spontaneously ignite if the air
is hot, and you may be thinking

that if Cerium’s in water it should
be safe, but water can’t be used

to stop a Cerium fire, since Cerium
reacts with water to make hydrogen gas.

Well, if Cerium fire fumes are toxic,
then so much for Lake Michigan being

good for you — even when Chicago
has multiple water purification plants.

Because Cerium in the water
that forms those morning clouds

is one thing, but no matter the toxicity
of Cerium, remember that us humans

are over seventy percent water.
With all the compounds

that Cerium goes into,
it’s probably best if Cerium’s left

to it’s industrial uses, instead
of working it’s way in our water…

And besides, it’s nice to think
that those beautiful morning clouds

framing the Chicago skyline
with snow-capped mountains

are actually more than just hydrogen
and oxygen, because every once

in a while, look at that morning sky.
Because in just the right way,

a little Cerium
can really go a long way.