www.janetkuypers.com poem

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

by

Manganese

Janet Kuypers

from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series (#025, Mn)
(stemming from “Became a Jungle”, written 05/17/10,
with references to “Everything Lives With Her”, written 9/2/06)
3/28/13

I wanted plants around.

She always had plants around,
everything thrived with her.

Ever since she died
my home has become a jungle.

Let me have control over this.

Let me add water nearly daily
to the plant I bought when I visited her,
or to the tree she gave me years ago.

Add plant food to the water.
Because I don’t want anything to die.

Trim the dried leaves,
because they would remind me
that even nature misses her.

Keep plants near windows,
they need their light.
Their Manganese needs it
for their chlorophyll production.

Actually, their Manganese assimilates
the carbon dioxide in photosynthesis.

So breathe in our carbon dioxide
and give me more
of my precious oxygen,
so we can realize
how we depend on each other so.

Actually, I should stock up
on Manganese plant supplements.

I’ll make sure you get everything you need.
I’ll make sure nothing happens to you.

Sodium, Periodic Table poem by Chicago poet Janet Kuypers

by

Sodium


from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series
8/31/12

It’s funny that something
so common on this Earth,
the 6th most abundant element,
something so common
that it’s usually found
mixed with the ocean water…
It’s funny that something
so common on this Earth
was actually used as currency,
given to ancient Roman soldiers
in addition to their wages.
The English word for it
was even derived from “salary”,
derived from “salarium”
for the wafers for payment.
In Medieval times, “sodanum”
was used to relieve headaches.
And the element name
is probably derived
from the Arabic “suda”
for headache…
It is in the soaps we make,
and we add it to the food
we eat. It has been used
in making and bleaching paper,
it’s in water softeners,
it’s used in compounds
for industrial cleaners,
or even as a tissue dissolving agent.

It’s funny, how we have it
in kosher, iodized and rock forms
in our kitchen.

So I guess it’s fitting
that this silver-white element
(which does not occur in nature
but is derived from it’s compounds),
it’s amazing that
this abundant element
has been used in so many ways,
from creating soaps
to industrial cleaners
to even dissolving tissue…
To even flavoring our food.
In us animals, Sodium
is even needed for nerve impulses
generated in our cell membranes.
So yeah, it makes sense
that if Sodium’s so needed,
and Sodium’s so abundant,
we’d use it in as many compounds
as we possibly can
to make our lives better.

Lawrencium, Periodic Table poem by Chicago poet Janet Kuypers

by

Lawrencium

Janet Kuypers

from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series (#103, Lr)

I’ve always tried to figure you out.
I could never pinpoint your true destiny.
All I know
is that your radio
activity to me
left my bones so brittle.
I know your heart is a hand grenade.
You’ve made my skin so paper thin.
You’re corroded me
until my lips
are forever shut.

Indium, poem from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series (#49, In) by Chicago poet Janet Kuypers

by

Indium

Janet Kuypers

from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series (#49, In)
4/27/13

As I touch the screen display,
see images and words moving
along the small LED screen,
I feel you there, just
on the other side.

I say I’ve never needed you,
but you’ve always been just
on the other side,
displaying what I wish to see,
lubricating what cannot
meld together.
You’re as brilliant to me
as a shining silver metal
but you’ve been so fluid
that you melt when I see you.

That may be why
you’ve always been just
on the other side
when it came to us,
and only allowed me
to admire you like this
from afar.

Gadolinium, poem from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series by Chicago poet Janet Kuypers

by

Gadolinium

Janet Kuypers

from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series (#64, Gd)
(based on the poem “You are a Force”)
10/2/13

This attraction to you,
when I learn what you do:
are you a force of nature?

Is it your magnetism, and
how my need’s only magnified
as I draw closer to you?

That’s the only way
I can explain this,
you know.

I know this momentum
in your magnetism
chills me to the core:

but the world doesn’t know
that your magnetic refrigeration
is the energy we need…

you must have a power
no one else has harnessed,
to do this to me.

The force you have on me
makes my blood rush,
and with that blood-brain barrier,

I even look at MRI scans,
and you’re just the contrast agent
to enhance all my vessels.

In older times, the electric force
between us would even
curl me in an arc to you.

I know, I know, I must abide
by the laws of physics and motion
when it comes to you,

because, as I said,
with your dynamic equilibrium,
you must be a force of nature.

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

by

Californium

Janet Kuypers

from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series (#98, Cf)
reflecting on the poem “i am the woman who loves pain”
10/23/13

They tell me that I am settling.
They tell me this is not love.

I keep telling myself
there’s nothing natural about you,
but when I try to take you in,
it seems you work your way
deep into my bones
and I just can’t get rid of you.

It’s like I just can’t get
of the idea of you
out of my head.

But you try to tear me apart
if you ever actually stay with me.

So when it comes to you,
I seem to be
the woman who loves pain.

Because I know you’ll do
the same things,
act the same way.
I’ve gotten used to it.

I look for you,
and whenever I find you…
Everything tarnishes
when we’re together,
but… I don’t know any better.
I don’t know how to stay away.

They keep telling me
that this is not love.

But I’ve never felt love,
and although I am hurting with you,
it’s better than hurting alone.

And you always leave
before I get the chance
to feel attached,
you think,
so you turn away
and you belive
you leave scott-free.
So, okay.
If that is what you do,
then… Don’t worry.
Despite what you do,
despite how you always
seem to react so much
when you’re with me,
I’ll still go across the country for you
I don’t know how many times.
I see your lights,
I see your glow,
because you still
intrigue me so.

I can’t help it.
I don’t know any better.
I must love this pain.
I keep coming back for more.