Month: March 2015

Thorium, from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series (#90. Th) by Chicago poet Janet Kuypers

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Thorium

Janet Kuypers

from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series (#90. Th)
7/1/14

Think of how many times
you’ve heard scientists say
(or maybe you’ve heard it
from people on daredevil tv)
“do not try this at home” —
knowing that someone,
somewhere
won’t heed this advice
and end up
with an unintended explosion
instead of a fantastic discovery
from their radical experiment…

Well, good thing one Swedish chemist
didn’t decide to “not try this at home”,
doing groundbreaking experiments
in his kitchen flat.
Though Jöns Jacob Berzelius < !—(yens yoke-ub bear-zeal-ee-us)—>
discovered a few elements,
he seemed so psyched
to name one new element
for the Scandinavian god of thunder, Thor.

And it’s kind of funny
that with his affinity for Thorium,
he never understood
Thorium’s radioactivity
(because, well,
when he discovered Thorium,
radioactivity hadn’t
even been discovered yet).

But after Thorium was discovered,
Thorium was used
for powering gas lamps
back in the day
when the world’s light
disappeared at nightfall.
But wait, Thorium’s radioactive,
and back in the day
they didn’t know this,
so did people get cancer
from radiation poisoning?

Well, maybe if
there was enough Thorium
in those gas lamps,
and maybe if that Thorium
wasn’t stopped from
getting to humans
by the glass surrounding the lamps…
Because only if you’d
eat Thorium (and maybe
only the supernatural God Thor
would eat Thorium)
maybe only if you ate it
only then might it make you sick.
        I mean, they still sell it
        today in camping lamps,
        unless you actually look for a lamp
        that’s Thorium-free…

But even when it came
to eating Thorium,
some people would do it
back in the ‘30s with x-rays
for detecting their cancer,
because at the time Thorium
was perfect for saving lives
thanks to those x-rays.
So with Thorium for cancer x-rays,
the new cancer risk
seemed like a fair trade-off
before they could find
a safer x-ray detection agent.

So yeah, there’s no way
a Swedish chemist
could have guessed it
when he discovered
the element Thorium
and wanted to name it
after the God of Thunder,
but Thorium can bring
some light into our world,
as long as we use Thorium
in just the right way.

San Francisco Poem by Marie Kazalia

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something in the American air

effects induces an involuntary
almost unnoticeable change
in personal philosophy
until I discover myself engaged in
a no-limits-capacity hoarding–
one good main daily meal
no longer enough to satisfy
like when I lived minimal in
different parts of Asia–

here in San Francisco I’m constantly
trying to fill my 2 small fridges
stacked one upon the other
up against a wall in my bathroom
and never once in expatriate Asia 4 years
did I feel that need–

here if you want a meal out it’s a big production
involving distorted remnants of old world
Euro-manners barely applicable today

my first day in Tokyo ate soup standing up
fast-slurping Japanese all sides at a counter
a woman constantly filling water glasses
shoving them down to the next soup slurp-er
entering tropical summer hot
–that water only drink offered–simplifies
matters– and only 3 kinds of soup–
no need to speak to order
just purchase the correct ticket upon entrance
under the train station stairs–
a sensible location
errand–get it down fast on your way back
on your way to work or the next destination

while many restaurants in Hong Kong, Tokyo
stay open all nite long–

here Americans consider eating-out entertainment–
a planned activity–invite friends for conversation
and most restaurants close-up by 11 p.m.
some foreign ones stay open till midnite
as if everyone gets up sleeps eats at the same
hour–

Marie Kazalia 9/22/2K
***

“The Glory Of Us!” A poem by Ron Olsen

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headshot-200x300

The Glory Of Us!
by  Ron Olsen

Primates
Naked apes
Eating grapes
And pitted dates
From fancy plates
That come in crates
Over the water
With foreign rates

Having complex thinking thoughts
From the seeds that Darwin wrought
Of birds that fly from place to place
With no regard for creation’s face
Or supreme mind
Just lengths of time
And nature’s grind
To help us find
The truth sublime

Scattering seeds
Through birdie scat
Helps preserve us
Dog and cat
It was true then
It holds true now
For humans, turtles, emu and cow

While getting our kicks
Lost in the mix
Is mankind’s fix
Between and betwixt
Our memory withdrawn
Of how to spawn
Out on the lawn
And we’d be gone

©2015  Ron Olsen-all rights reserved

 

Janet Kuypers performs poetry readings at the Cafe Gallery in Chicago 3/4/15 (on the anniversary of the foundation of Chicago)

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Janet Kuypers reading her poem “New to Chicago” from memory live 3/4/15 at the open mic the Café Gallery in Chicago (Canon fs200)

“new to chicago”

(poem by Jaet Kuypers)

I’m still new to this city
I know, I know, I’ve been here for years
but I haven’t gone to the Sears Tower Observatory
since my Junior Prom

but when I walk by the First Chicago building
the beams along the north side
sloping up, parabolic pillars curving up to the sky

when I walk by the First Chicago building
I walk up along the side
and lean up against one of the sloping pillars
press my body against the cold concrete
feel the cold against my chin, my breasts, by thighs

and look up along the curve, stretching up towards the sky

you know, these pillars look like race tracks
and I could see something come rushing down that curve
a matchbox car, a race car
a marble, a bowling ball
a two-ton weight

I see the speed, the power, and it
almost makes me afraid to look up

and every time I walk by the First Chicago building
I do the same thing, I do this little ritual
and it feels like the first time

Janet Kuypers reading her poem “New to Chicago” from memory live 3/4/15 at the open mic the Café Gallery in Chicago (Canon Power Shot)

Janet Kuypers reads portions of her India Journals< (from 20150111 9:25PM IST) at the open mic the Café Gallery in Chicago (Canon fs200)

Janet Kuypers reading William F. Meyer Jr.’s poem “Cave Woman / Cave Man Soliloquy I” from the Down in the Dirt collection book What Must be Done live 3/4/15 at the open mic the Café Gallery in Chicago

Janet Kuypers reading Catherine B. Krause’s “The Herd” from the current issue of cc&d magazine’s “the Curve of Arctic Air” live 3/4/15 at the open mic the Café Gallery in Chicago

Janet Kuypers reading Robert Bates’ prose “Knockout” from Down in the Dirt mag (the Jan./Feb. 2015 issue, v127) titled “Treading Water” live 3/4/15 at the open mic the Café Gallery in Chicago

Janet Kuypers reading C Ra McGuirt’s poem “If you read this poem, then you will die” from the 2015 “need to know” literary date book live 3/4/15 at the open mic the Café Gallery in Chicago

Janet Kuypers reading Rex Sexton’s poem “this is not a poem” from the 2015 “need to know” literary date book live 3/4/15 at the open mic the Café Gallery in Chicago

See YouTube video
of Janet Kuypers hosting the open mic 3/4/15 at Gallery Cabaret’s the Café Gallery in Chicago