Poetry videos

Nitrogen in my veins, bonus “Periodic Table” poem by Chiago poet Janet Kuypers

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Nitrogen in my veins

Janet Kuypers

bonus poem from the Periodic Table of Poetry series (#007, N)
(stemming from Fingers Black, written 6/5/10)
3/29/13

You told me nothing.
You just left me.

Now wait a minute,
I’m a journalist,
so all I could do
was turn my fingers black,
scouring the newspapers,
searching for any news
about what happened
with us.

The ink from that paper
crept around my fingernails,
trying to work it’s way
under my skin.
I could feel that
darkened soybean oil,
that petroleum oil,
creeping it’s way into me.
I could feel that Nitrogen
from that petroleum oil
piggy-backing on that
hydrogen, carbon, oxygen.
I could feel that Nitrogen
butting that sulfur out of the way,
pushing it’s way
past the only trace amounts
of nickel and iron.
(Those trace elements
couldn’t stand a chance
against the power
of that Nitrogen,
that power
to spill the news
out to the world.)

I ran my hands
through those newspaper pages.
I felt that ink
seep under my skin,
and I felt the surge
of that Nitrogen in my veins.

I know they use liquid Nitrogen
to fuel cars,
to make them go
at stellar speeds…
And I know people take Nitrogen
to give their bodies
added strength,
so,
journalist or not,
maybe this is
exactly
what I need.

I’ll scour those pages,
I’ll let that Nitrogen
seep into my veins,
as I look for any way
to get you back.

Besides,
all this ink’s in me now.
This Nitrogen has given me
the impetus
for all I’ve got to say.

Poetry & Poems of Frank O’Hara. 1926-1966

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Francis Russell “Frank” O’Hara was an American writer, poet and art critic. Because of his employment as a curator at the Museum of Modern Art, O’Hara became prominent in New York City’s art world.


Animals by Frank O'Hara read by A Poetry Channel

Frank O'Hara: Lunch Poems

Song (is it dirty), by Frank O'Hara, Read by David J. Bauman

Willem de Kooning / Frank O'Hara Poems

Frank O´Hara reads "Having a coke with you"

Six Poems of Frank O'Hara: Poem

Frank O’Hara reads selected poems

Don Draper Recites Frank O' Hara's Poetry

Having a Coke with Frank O'Hara

USA: Poetry, Frank O'Hara (1966)

Frank O'Hara Reading | Frank O'Hara Poetry | Frank O'Hara Poems

My Heart by Frank O'Hara

Frank O'Hara reading from Lunch Poems

Meditations In An Emergency // Frank O'Hara

PBS NewsHour: "POEM" by Frank O'Hara

"POEM" by Frank O'Hara (Favorite Poem Project)

ORAL HISTORY INITIATIVE: On Frank O'Hara – Woodberry Poetry Room

USA: Poetry Episode Frank O'Hara and Ed Sanders

Our Life in Poetry: Frank O'Hara

Frank O'Hara – Mayakovsky poem reading

Morning Poem // Frank O'Hara

Frank O'Hara: Why I Am Not A Painter

Life, Work, and Lunch: Meditations on Frank O'Hara

Frank O'Hara: A Step Away From Them
Bibliography:

Selected Poems of Frank O’Hara, edited by Donald Allen, Carcanet 2005;
The Dance of the Intellect, Studies in the Poetry of the Pound Tradition by Marjorie Perloff, Northwestern University Press 1985;
Poetry On & Off the Page by Marjorie Perloff, Northwestern University Press 1998;
The Making of the Reader, Language and Subjectivity in Modern American, English and Irish Poetry by David Trotter, Macmillan 1984;
City Poet: The Life and Times of Frank O’Hara by Brad Gooch, Alfred Knopf 1993;
Some Americans, A Personal Record by Charles Tomlinson, University of California Press 1981 (reprinted by Carcanet in the volume American Essays: Making It New, 2001).

Niobium, “Periodic Table of Poetry” poem from Chicago poet Janet Kuypers

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Niobium

Janet Kuypers

from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series (#041, Nb)
started 7/5/13, finished 7/6/12

Niobium’s name is derived
from Greek Mythology,
from the woman Niobe,
daughter of Tantalus…

(and yes, there’s an element
Tantalum, and he’s
directly below her in the
Periodic Table, and it’s hard
to tell them apart sometimes…)

But after Niobe had more children
(seven sons and seven daughters),
and because Niobe felt she had
more prominent stature,
she asked,
“My father was a guest
at the table of the Gods.
My husband built and rules
this city. I have seven sons and
seven daughters worthy of pride.
You revere gods and goddesses
you cannot even see, but
aren’t I worthy
of goddess worship?”

Well, sounding a bit too haughty
to everyone in town,
the god Artemis
and her twin sister Apollo
used arrows for their vengeance —
Artemis killed Niobe’s daughters
Apollo killed Niobe’s sons.
I don’t know is any were spared,
but according to mythology,
when Niobe’s husband saw their dead sons,
he killed himself in grief and despair.
After losing everything.
Niobe fled to Mount Sipylus.
As she wept,
she was turned to stone,
and to this day
there is a natural rock formation there
that resembles a woman’s face,
and rainwater pours
through the porous limestone.
They call this the “Weeping Rock”
in honor of Niobe.

And sure,
Niobium is in chemicals
that are water soluble,
and Niobium is used
in superconducting magnets
(probably like how Niobe
had so many children,
and how everyone was drawn
to her beautiful face,
as she was always
resplendently adorned
in gold and jewels —
through I doubt she had
metal jewelry
made out of Niobium,
even though it turns
to a beautiful blue
when exposed to air).

Niobium is mixed with steel
to make it stronger —
since the Niobium in metal
is also more resistant to heat,
it can be used in anything
from jet engines,
to liquid rocket thrusters
for outer space.
(And as a funny twist, Niobium
is even in the main engine
of the Apollo Lunar Modules.)

You know, Niobium is often used
in commemorative coins,
with gold and silver.
So who knows,
maybe Niobe did have
Niobium in her jewelry,
as everyone admired
her beauty —
until she lost it all.

Neodymium, “Periodic Table of Poetry” poem from Chicago poet Janet Kuypers

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Neodymium

Janet Kuypers

from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series (#060, Nd)

I am drawn to you, / you pull on me so,
when I think of how / you’re so magnetic.

With your electric charge, / my motor’s going,
you get me charged up / thinking it’s a game…

You use my favorite gems, / Garnet and crystals,
and you make every point / seem laser clear.

You’re focus must be why / I’m so drawn to you
I must come to you / until you’re near.

And now you know how / I love my glassware,
so I was sent to / a glass blowing lathe,

and the glass blowers / were making glassware
with you on their eyes / so they could see.

They loaned me their specs, / I put them on —
and through the green-grey specs / the flame was gone.

I did a double-take — / there was no glare —
leaving me to see / just molten glass.

‘Cause on those glasses, / you weren’t alone —
you worked in pairs there / so we could see.

‘Cause to the Greeks / you are a new twin,
that’s where together’s / how you fit in…

 

And all of this time / I was drawn to you
but now you’ve proven / you can help me see.