Janet Kuypers Poems

Chromium poem by Janet Kuypers

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Chromium

Janet Kuypers

from the “ Periodic Table of Poetry” series

Closing the door
to my stainless steel refrigerator,
I thought about the popularity
of stainless steel;
everyone wants to get
stainless steel fronts
for all of their kitchen appliances.
Costs more at the store,
but that’s the price for looking good.

So I thought, stainless steel,
okay, what is that, iron?
But my wrought iron bed frame
and sets of candle holders
are pretty much black,
some of it’s rusting,
so what do they do
to make this iron a shiny,
different kind of metal?

I looked online
and the answer
was 24.
Not 42, not the meaning of life,
but the atomic number.

You know, when I turned 24 at work,
our rep from our press called me,
and I told him it was my birthday.
So he asked me how old I was,
and I said 42.
He sounded surprised, so I told him,
“Oh, you didn’t ask me
how old I felt.
I’m 24.”

But really, chromium
is atomic element number 24,
and to make stainless steel
they add over ten percent
of chromium to the iron to form
a steel alloy that doesn’t corrode.
(Good thing
my refrigerator
won’t rust…)

So maybe it’s the
magnetic properties of chromium
that make this metal so appealing
to people now…
But this protective element
has protected weaponry
from Chinese dynasties
thousands of years ago,
so the Chinese knew,
even then,
that coating things with
this magnetic metallic element
would stop corrosion.

I mean, we’ve all heard
of things that are
chrome plated, right?
Chromium not only makes things
last longer, but
chromium is also known for
its luster when polished —
which really makes
for a great sell.
Just go to any hangout
for motorcyclists,
probably on any summer
Sunday morning,
and see the parked line-up
of one motorcycle after another,
each outdoing each other
with decorative chrome plating…

But then I thought…
Chromium’s even used
as chrome yellow dye
for school buses…
Chromium salts are used
for wood preservatives
and tanning leather…
The refractory applications
of chromium even work
for blast furnaces, cement kilns,
molds for the firing of bricks
and also for the casting of metals.

I guess chromium can really
extend the life
of what we see around us…
So I guess it’s fitting
that when my birthday
coincided with this element,
I jokingly said
that the number in question
was actually the answer
to life, the universe,
and everything…

Aluminum poem by Janet Kuypers

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Aluminum

Janet Kuypers

from the “ Periodic Table of Poetry” series

On our wedding anniversary,
I try to remember
annual anniversary gifts:
we’ve passed wood, copper, iron,
and are just passing tin, steel,
and aluminum now.
What on Earth do I buy
for a gift that’s aluminum?
I don’t think he wants
an aluminum briefcase.
Aluminum picture frame
magnets won’t work
on our stainless steel fridge.
Brushed aluminum wall tiles
over our kitchen sink
might be a good idea,
but that’s hardly
an anniversary gift…
The beaten square
aluminum cufflinks
look pretty good,
but I think the only time
he wore cufflinks
was on our wedding day.
So really, aluminum?
Oh, I suppose
the pliability of aluminum
shows how our marriage
needs to be flexible
and durable, and like
aluminum, which can be bent
without being broken,
we have to learn to bend
to each other’s wills
so that we can be
stronger when we’re together.
And we are.

With the low density
of aluminum, it is
the third most abundant
element here on Earth.
But the things is,
the aluminum metal
is too reactive chemically
to occur natively on Earth,
so it’s usually found
combined in ways with
over two hundred seventy
different minerals.

So, we see aluminum
because it mixes well
with others.
Good thing it’s pliable,
ductile, malleable.
Better thing it’s durable,
to withstand
the test of time.

And the thing is,
I’ve studied these elements
to see how they are needed
in the human body,
and despite aluminum’s
abundance on Earth,
it actually has no known
function in biology.
It’s remarkably nontoxic,
but because in the body
it competes with calcium
for absorption, it might
even lead to Osteoporosis…
Okay, I won’t eat this element,
I won’t use it in cookware.
Good thing I don’t need
antacids (which may
contain aluminum),
and although
I’ve never seen aluminum
in antiperspirants,
some researchers
have postulated
that using antiperspirants
with aluminum
may increase the risk
or breast cancer,
or potentially
Alzheimer’s disease.

(Great news
for the woman
with breast cancer
in her family history.
Great news
for the woman
with a previous
brain injury, so I
should watch for
Alzheimer’s disease.
Now I have more reasons
to worry about ingesting
the “nontoxic” aluminum.)

It’s funny, aluminum
was first used
in car engineering
and architecture
(those must have been
strong cars and buildings—
wait, they were “durable”,
but also, I’m afraid,
“flexible”, for
cars and buildings),
but then aluminum was used
in jewelry and fashion.
Kind of like
those cufflinks,
I suppose.
Hmmm.
In the meantime,
I’m going to
grab some leftovers
from the fridge,
get it out of the
aluminum foil
and eat before pondering
what his anniversary
present should be.

Mercury poem by Janet Kuypers

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Mercury

Janet Kuypers

from the “ Periodic Table of Poetry” series

Loving astronomy,
I’ve always looked for images
from outer space.
My computer desktop background
and screen saver images
are NASA and Hubble telescope images.
Near my desk I keep a poster
of the planets,
and I’ve tried to find miniature globes
all all of the planets
for my living room.
Saturn. Jupiter, and four of it’s moons.
Mars. Our moon.
Too many globes of Earth.
The weather patterns of Venus.
Even a W-map of the universe
just after the Big Bang.
But planets like Neptune,
the farthest from the sun,
and Mercury,
the closest to the sun,
(speeding at over one and a half times
the speed of Earth’s orbit),
those globes are hard to find.

Mercury’s eccentric orbital speed
changes throughout it’s fast orbit,
with the fitting, fast-moving name
of the Roman messenger god.
They equated the planet with the Greek Hermes,
because it moves across the sky
faster than any other planet.
Mercury’s astronomical symbol
as a stylized version of Hermes’ caduceus.
The symbol for the planet Mercury
is even used to represent the element…

We can’t land anything on Mercury
because of it’s hostile environment,
like the volatility of the liquid element
(the only liquid element considered a mineral).
People shy away from using Mercury
in thermometers any longer
because the toxic mercury can leak.

Historically they tried to use mercury
for mirrors (they use silver now),
and ancient cultures used cosmetics
containing the poisonous mercury
that often disfigured women’s faces.
Ah, the ways women hurt themselves
to make themselves beautiful —
you can still find mercury
(you know, because it stays liquid)
in eyelash mascara.

Putting a toxic element so close to your eyes,
that sounds like a good idea…

Then again, someone just told me
that doctors used to give mercury
antibiotic eye drops to babies
just after birth,
to prevent eye infections
from Gonorrhea / Chlamydia bacteria.

Ah, the many ways
we can use toxins
to supposedly help us.

We want to learn about the planet Mercury?
We send unmanned ships through space
to photograph Mercury as much as we can,
remotely check the atmosphere levels,
the temperature, the speed.
We use mercury in our make-up,
mercury is used in dental amalgams.
Mercury has also been used
in traditional Chinese medicine,
and we used mercury in thermometers
to regulate our temperature,
and used it in blood pressure devices.

Because, we want to learn,
and we want to do anything,
to use anything to our own ends,
no matter how toxic.

Nickel poem by Janet Kuypers

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Nickel

Janet Kuypers

from the “ Periodic Table of Poetry” series

“Nickel for your thoughts,”
he said to me.
So I had to ask,
“a Nickel?
Why?
Because the penny’s undervalued?”
And he said,
“Maybe it’s because
your thoughts
are worth
so much more
than a penny…”
And I thought,
‘great, five times more,
but it’s still
only a nickel…’

Besides, a nickel
is only about
twenty-five percent
nickel
in the first place.
But then again,
even though
it’s three fourths
copper,
the cost of the metals
is worth more
than the coin itself.

So maybe
I should take him up
on his nickel offer.
Then I could say
my thoughts
are worth something.

Phosphorus poem by Janet Kuypers

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Phosphorus

Janet Kuypers

from the “ Periodic Table of Poetry” series

I didn’t know how much I needed you.
I didn’t know how essential you were to me.
I didn’t know how my creation depended on you.

Even though I barely see you,
even though you seemed barely there for me,
even though I got rid of you whenever I could…

I didn’t know that even though
you were barely there,
you were there… just enough.

Like Venus, I only saw you from afar.
Like what is in DNA, RNA, ATP, you are
like me, all the way down to my cell membranes.

When I think of you,
when I breathe in the oxygen around me,
when your phosphorescence illuminates me…

Then I realize your true power.
Then I realize you’re the light bearer.
Then I realize you’re my morning star.

Though you seem toxic,
though you seem explosive,
that’s apparently the spark that gets me going.

So, remember that you give the Earth life.
So remember, you can always light my fire.
So, remember that since you have that charge

you can also help us destroy ourselves.