Poetry Posts

Sulfur poem by Janet Kuypers

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Sulfur

Janet Kuypers

from the “ Periodic Table of Poetry” series

When I’ve always thought of Sulfur,
I thought of it’s caustic smell,
or the fact that it’s mixed with things
so its used to bleach paper,
or as a fixing agent
when making photography prints.
It’s been used for vulcanizing rubber,
and it has been used as a fertilizer;
I know they use it in compounds
to make anti-inflammatory drugs, too.
(I only know this because
I’ve had an allergic reaction
to taking sulfa drugs, giving me
a rash all over my body.)
But I know it’s needed for life
by many small organisms (and it’s
even needed for keeping human
skin and hair healthy).

Wait… So if us humans need it,
why am I allergic to it? I mean,
my hair’s not brittle, and my skin’s
not falling off… I really hope
that it’s just a matter of me having
just enough of this stuff, because
too much can be bad for me…

And the thing is, I had no idea
that Sulfur was also mentioned
in the Torah and in the Bible…
Historically it was even used
to make the best gunpowder,
and it was commonly used
in Ancient Greece, China and Egypt.

So I guess it makes sense
that if we have combined Sulfur
(though I really prefer to spell it
in Latin with a “ph” instead…)
with so many other things
for our needs in life right now,
that it would have been used
throughout history so much
that this element finds it’s way
into religious books
throughout history too…

I Muttered Poem

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he spoke
I held the phone away from my ear
will he ever stop
I brought the phone back
“Oh yeah”, I muttered
away went the phone
will he ever stop
I clicked the mouse
“You’re kidding”, I muttered
tiny mice grabbed my brain and
wrenched it
twisted it
I grimaced
I grimaced
My face contorted into
a tortured ogre
then I remembered
he’s my friend
and I’d be lost
without him.

david michael jackson September 21, 2012

Poem : A Fish Story by Seymour Shubin

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Child's fish drawing

A Fish Story

We took our little son to a carnival
He must have been five or six
And we came across a game
Which if you won, you won a goldfish.
I didn’t want a goldfish but my son did
So I threw something that connected
With something
And the little boy came home with a goldfish
in a water-filled plastic bag
He was so happy and we were happy
For him
But the next morning he came to our bed
Crying
It seems he tried to change the water
But he did it over the toilet
And the fish dropped down
Forever lost
The boy was crying so hard, poor thing
And so I told him that the fish
Had made its way to the river
And was with his mother and father and brothers and sisters
And friends, oh yes friends
A 60 year old lie which I wish I could believe in now
To meet my mother and father and sisters
And brother again
And oh yes, all those old friends.

Poem by Seymour Shubin   Drawing by Michael Franklin 1999, age 6

Seymour ShubinSeymour Shubin-02Seymour Shubin Witness To Myself

Socks in the Corner Poem

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My brain is tired

the left side

in the front

the part that thinks

it’s in charge.

I drink the bottled water and try to

make the other side say that it is there

that I don’t have to add things up

that the socks in the corner will be

fine for now

that it all didn’t matter anyway

but the socks in the corner

need washing

and they lie there staring at me

like dishes

 

 

 

david michael jackson

“Iridium” poem by Janet Kuypers

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Iridium

Janet Kuypers

from the “ Periodic Table of Poetry” series

I was looking for different pieces of jewelry
at the more expensive jewelry store;
I knew Christmas was coming
and I wanted to splurge on an expensive gift.
But I wanted something truly unique,
so more than thinking about the gemstones
I was looking for the most original setting.
Silver, 10k, 14k, 24k and White Gold, Platinum…
Then I thought I should look at the Periodic Table
to see what other elements there are in the
same Platinum group metals,
so I can find just the right metal
for the perfect setting.

Okay, on first glance at the Periodic Table,
before I even looked at the Platinum group metals,
I see Aluminum. But that’s right out,
when it can be as flexible as tin foil…
Tungsten’s used for environmentally-friendly
Bullet shell casings, but I don’t know…
Wait a minute, if I think aluminum’s
too malleable, then IN the Platinum group metals,
actually right next to Platinum in the
Periodic Table, what about Iridium?
It’s the 2nd densest element there is,
and it look silvery-white like Platinum,
but also has just a hint of a gold hue to it.
This sounds perfect.

Wait a minute, I think because Iridium
is so hard, it’s also brittle — I hope
it wouldn’t break apart. So actually,
because it’s so dense and resistant to heat
or corrosion, people probably can’t
work with it to actually make it
into anything… So I guess Iridium’s out.

But the fascinating thing about Iridium
is that when scientists studied the
Cretaceous period and Paleogene period
boundary from 65 million years ago,
they found a strong layer of Iridium-
rich clay… And although no one knows
for sure, scientist Luis Alvares
lead a team in 1980 who theorized
that a massive asteroid collision —
or a comet impact — which historically
drove the dinosaurs to extinction —
that these interstellar objects that
collided with the Earth — were rich
in Iridium, leaving Iridium in the clay
that separated these two geologic periods.

It’s just a theory, but it sounds
kind of cool, and it’s just one more way
to find Iridium so fascinating.

It’s a shame I can’t have it made
into the right jewelry setting…

And you know, Iridium is obtained
as a byproduct of copper and nickel
mining, and was even used in 1834
in fountain pen nibs mounted on gold,
so apparently they were able
to work with Iridium then…

Now that I think about it, there might be
something to this Alvarez hypothesis,
because right now there is
what they call the Iridium satellite
constellation, which literally is
a set of satellites covering voice
and data storage around the world
for everyone using cell phones
or mobile electronic devices…

So yeah, if Iridium can relate to
a change in geologic historic periods,
and if it can relate to satellites
orbiting the Earth now for our communication,
that’s all the more reason to admire
this dense, heavy element anywhere
we can find it.