malleable poem

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

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Gold

Janet Kuypers
Gold
from the ““ Periodic Table of Poetry” series (#079, Au)

Golden lights, displaying your name

When I saw you, I was so attracted to you.
Your Golden hair reflected the sunlight
the day we met,
and ever since our first encounter,
I desperately needed you with me.

You bought me gold jewelry,
and to this day I wear
your Gold chain around my neck,
your Gold ring around my finger.

You were go soft,
and I would do whatever you wanted,
but as time wore on,
I saw you would bend to me as well —
you seemed so malleable
when it came to you and me.
I loved how my Golden boy
would follow any choice I made
when we were together.

Golden lights, displaying your name,
Golden lights, it’s a terrible shame

You were like the glow of sunrise,
and when we were together,
you were coursing through my veins.
You were so valuable to me.
You were so precious to me.
I would have even consumed you,
if you gave me the chance.

Golden slumber steals your eyes

But you never gave me that chance,
and it was like the world was heartbroken
as so many came to your coffin
to see your Golden hair one final time.

They called me a Gold digger
because before before your cremation
doctors had your Gold fillings removed.

I kept your Gold wedding ring, too,
that must also make me a Gold digger.

In my mind,
you were perfection for me,
you were the summit
of everything that mattered to me.
When I think of how pure you were,
to this day,
nothing tarnishes my love for you.
That is why, on some early mornings,
I step outside
and feel the glow of the morning sunrise,
to remind me
of our neverending love.

(the first two italicized sets of lines are from the song
“Golden Lights&#8221, by the Smiths. The last italicized line
is from the song “Golden Lights&#8221, by the Beatles.)

Zirconium poem by Janet Kuypers

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Zirconium

Janet Kuypers

from the “ Periodic Table of Poetry” series

So I was at the Gem and Jewelry Show
with my girlfriend, and a man
I thought would ask me to marry him one day,
and my girlfriend stopped at a booth
amongst the rows and rows of vendors
and told me to look at a huge engagement ring.
Well, I didn’t want to look, I didn’t want
to get my hopes up, but seeing the brillance
of the awe-inspiring stones made me ask
for the price of one particular ring.
They told us it was three hundred seventy-five
dollars. And we were confused, this ring
should be at least two grand, but then we saw
that this was a booth of cubic zirconia jewelry.
How disappointing, we thought, we want
the real thing. But looking back, I had to admit
that the Zirconium was unmistakably breath-taking.

I don’t know if Zirconium is as short-lived
as that relationship with the man that went with me
to the Gem and Jewelry Show in Chicago
that I thought would ask me to marry him one day,
but if nothing else, at least some Zirconium
would have been a nice gesture…

Although the element Zirconium’s
most common oxide is zirconium dioxide
(also known as zirconia), used
as a common diamond substitute,
the metallic element Zirconium is a lustrous,
grayish-white, soft, ductile and malleable element.

Different from a diamond, I suppose,
but also different from the cubic zirconia isotope.
I just have to keep remembering
that cubic zirconium is not all Zirconium is used for:
it is used for not only in nuclear applications,
but also in Space and aeronautic industries.
Zirconium is used for cladding nuclear reactor fuels,
and materials from Zirconium metal and its oxide
is even used in space vehicle parts
for their resistance to heat.
A Zirconium isotope has been recently used
in positron emission tomography (PET) cameras…
So ductile or not, maybe Zirconium
is pretty strong, and exactly at times
what I need.