Periodic Table of the Elements Poems

Germanium poem by Janet Kuypers

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Germanium

by Janet Kuypers

of Scars Publications
from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series

Because the planet Neptune
was recently discovered,
Winkler in the late 1800s
decided to name the element
he discovered “Neptunium,”
but another element already
tried to lay claim to that name
(and still a different element
got the name “Neptunium”)…
So Winkler decided to name
his newfound element Germanium,
from Latin Germania,
in honor of his homeland.

Germania is known for
its high refraction (along with
its low optical dispersion),
making it perfect for things like
wide-angle camera lenses,
but is also used for microscopy
and the core part of optical fibers.
And yeah, I could go on
about silicon-Germanium alloys
used for semiconductors
in new circuitry, fiber optics,
infrared optics, electronics,
metallurgy and chemotherapy,
But when I heard chemotherapy
I started looking into it, because
when it comes to chemotherapy,
Germanium’s role in cancer
treatments has been widely debated —
the American Cancer Society
found no evidence that Germanium
Helps fight cancer, and the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
found that when Germanium
was a nutritional supplement,
Germanium even actually “presents
potential human health hazard”.

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And I’m sorry, when I hear “Germanium”,
I think “Germania”, and I know that
Germania was the Greek and Roman
geographic term for the region,
but it still makes me think
of the “World Capital Germania”, with
Adolf Hitler’s vision for the future
of Germany, with the projected renewal
of the German capital Berlin
during the Nazi reign. And Albert Speer,
the “first architect of the Third Reich”
(and probably the only architect)
produced many of the plans
for the rebuilt city, but only a fraction
was realized. The Berlin Olympic Stadium
for the 1936 Summer Olympics was built.
Speer also designed a new Chancellery,
with a hall twice as long as the Hall
of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles,
but the second Chancellery
was destroyed by the Soviet army
in 1945, and almost no other buildings
planned for Berlin (and Hitler’s
“Germania”) were ever built.

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Some compounds of Germanium
are highly reactive and very dangerous
to humans even on exposure.
I mean, Germanium had similarities
with the elements arsenic (used for
chemical weapons) and antimony
(another toxic chemical element),
so maybe it makes sense that I can’t help
but equate it with Hitler’s plans
that followed mass genocide.
So I have to keep reminding myself
of the uses for Germanium in electronics,
and remind myself that the most notable
physical characteristics of Germania
make it perfect for optics, and things
like wide-angle camera lenses (which the
photographer in me can’t help but love).
Because although Germanium can have
some very bad connections,
it can also do things to help us out
so much in our lives as well.

Barium poem by Janet Kuypers

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Barium

by Janet Kuypers

from the “ Periodic Table of Poetry” series

As Christmas approaches,
I get my glass ornaments out
for decorating the tree,
and it reminds me
of how the element Barium
is used in glass making
to improve the luster,
which is perfect for these ornaments.

Because I always thought
that Barium was used
to coat fluorescent lamps,
or add to fireworks
to make them a vibrant green
(not unlike a Christmas tree),
or even as a contrast agent
when taking X-rays,
and yeah, Barium compounds
can even halt the leaking
of X-rays from CRT TV sets…

A mineral containing Barium
is also a rare blue
fluorescent gemstone,
that‚s even the official
state gem of California.

So I guess it does make sense
that Barium could also improve
the luster of glassware…

But when I looked for
more information on Barium,
that‚s when I read
in the New York Daily News
and the Daily Mail
that a Tennessee woman
was actually being poisoned
by her doctor husband
with Barium. This woman,
living on Lookout Mountain,
was suffering from a mysterious
illness for months, until
she found out
that her physician husband
had been poisoning her
for five months by putting
Barium in her morning coffee.

Wow, so I suppose having a little
Barium in your system
once or twice in your life
for an X-ray won‚t due you in…
The element Barium can
add luster to glassware, or
give an intense green in fireworks,
coat fluorescent lamps, or stop
X-rays from coming to you
through your TV screen —
the element Barium can
even help doctors see better
in X-rays to help someone‚s life.
But don‚t put it in your morning
coffee every day,
because if you give someone
too much of what otherwise
seems like a good thing,
it can also be what kills you…

Silicon poem by Janet Kuypers

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Silicon

Janet Kuypers

from the “ Periodic Table of Poetry” series

I knew that Silicon is good for plant metabolism,
which should make me be happy as a vegetarian
and a woman with I don’t know how many plants
potted and taking over my home.
But Silicon is barely ever needed for animal life…
In nature, Silicon seems to be better suited
for sea sponges. And although I love the sea,
the last thing I want to be called is a sponge.
And you know, if Silicon is used by anyone in the
animal kingdom, you can believe that I really dislike
breast implants made out of Silicon (or made out of
anything unnatural to the human body, for that latter).
And after my Lasik eye surgery, I even heard
they use Silicon for some contact lenses —
which makes me glad I don’t need contacts anymore.

So if Silicon doesn’t have a use organically for humans,
I guess it makes sense then that Silicon is actually
used by humans in explosives and pyroptechnics.
But really, for the abundant element, Silicon
has to have some better uses for us humans,
like in semiconductors, or even intregrated circuits…

But whenever I go out and walk on the beach,
feel the sand work it’s way between my toes,
I should remember that Silicon Dioxide
is pretty much sand.

Then again, I heard that people were suing Taco Bell
a few years back, because their “Taco Meat Filling”,
was only one third meat, plus flavorings, and a bit of
Silicon Dioxide.

So yeah, people wondered, and were asking
if Taco Bell “meat” was actually made with sand.

I know, I know, Taco Bell had to explain that Silica —
or Silicon Dioxide — is commonly used for foods,
and Taco Bell was just using the harmless oxide
to absorb water and keep the meat from clumping.

Hmmm… So if Silicon is common enough
to be under our feet on beaches around the world,
and if this vegetarian should be pleased
that Silicon is used during plant metabolism,
then I guess I’ll have to expect us humans
to use Silicon (even if we don’t need it)
to help us see better with eye contacts,
or comically exaggerate our breast size,
or even use integrated circuits
to help set off some cool fireworks,
because Silicon has to be cooler
than just the beauty of the beach at sunset.

the 7/22/12 Beach Poets chapbook
Download this poem in the free chapbook
the 7/22/12 Beach Poets chapbook,
w/ the Periodic Table of Poetry poems.
video
video
See YouTube video of Kuypers reading this poem at her Beach Poets feature 7/22/12 in Chicago (from the Canon)
video
video
See YouTube video of Kuypers reading 7 poems from her series “Periodic Table of Poetry” at her Beach Poets feature 7/22/12 in Chicago, including this poem (from the Canon)

Krypton poem by Janet Kuypers

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Krypton

Janet Kuypers

from the “ Periodic Table of Poetry” series

So, riddle me this, Batman…
(Wait a minute. That’s the wrong
superhero reference.
Let me start over again…)

Hi there. I’ve been trying
to wrap my head around this one,
maybe you can help me out.
Now, I don’t know a ton
about superhero mythology,
but Superman — he’s from
the planet Krypton, right?
And from what I’d infer,
Krypton would have a lot
of Kryptonite — Kryptonite
comes from Krypton, right?
So if Superman is from Krypton,
why would Kryptonite
be his weakness?
I mean, that’s like saying
the planet Earth has Oxygen,
but humans have an adverse
reaction to it. I don’t get it.

Okay, okay, i’m sure Kryptonite
is the ore form of a radioactive
element from Superman’s home,
but really, if they’ll name
this bad-for-residents thing
a version of the panet’s name,
it really makes you wonder
why.

And when it comes to this planet,
Krypton is colorless, odorless, tasteless…
and our own air, the stuff we breathe,
even contains fractional amounts of Krypton.
And if on Superman’s home planet
it was the radioactive ore of an element,
I guess it makes sense that here on earth
Krypton is used for fluorescent lamps,
or even in high-powered gas lasers.

But the one thing I thought was cool
was that Krypton is also used
in small photograph flashes,
and in high-speed photography
(you know, for a brilliant white light
source – good for the photo minor
who even had the license place
“J PHOTO 1” for her first car)…

And if I so got into the brilliant
white light Krypton creates in flashes,
I also then thought it was excellent-cool
that the different colors in neon signs
are often all Krypton, too…

So whether or not Krypton
is where Superman came from,
all I can say is that
Krypton has a certain brilliance
right here on earth too.

Chlorine poem by Janet Kuypers

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Chlorine

Janet Kuypers

from the “ Periodic Table of Poetry” series

My dad ran a construction company,
and after he built our house, he used concrete
from an extra job to build a swimming pool
in our back yard. My brother even got a diving
college scholarship, so I guess the pool
came in handy.

Every summer, after cleaning the pool,
filling it with water and adding the right amount
of Chlorine, my neighbor and best friend
would come ove and pay in the chemically clean
pool with me daily. We’d even play
“Bottom Bump”, where we’d hold our breaths
to save us from the Chlorine, and we’d hold hands
and start doing flips underwater together
until we’d end up injuring ourselves
and have to come up for air. Even as a toddler,
because I was just a child and I had this mortal fear
of falling backwards into the deep end,
my sister would have to re-teach me every year
how to back dive into the Chlorine pool.

But now that my dad lives in the retirement
community he started in Florida years ago,
I visit him when I have the time during
the cold Chicago winters, and sit by the pool
they built right across the street from his house.
The Chlorine in that pool actually smells good
when you want relief from the hundred degree heat,
even if the pool is almost eighty degrees itself.

But of course the Chlorine would smell good,
when Chlorine is even used in drinking water.

And it’s funny that we use Chlorine in pools
while Chlorine is mostly found a a Chloride ion
in salt, that it’s found in the earth as well as
in oceans, like the Dead Sea.

Chlorine ions are in the Dead Sea,
and Chlorinated pools can save us from the heat.

But too much Chlorine in the water
is a bad thing, and if you don’t know that
from sniffing the bottle of Chlorine
before it’s poured into a swimming pool,
then know that as a gas, this element
was even used as a weapon in World War Two.
The Germans even used these “Bertholite” bombs
(which smelled like pepper and pineapple, actually),
and Chlorine bombs were even used in the Iraq War
(though the physical force of the bomb
may have been more devastating than the gas).

Because yeah, Chlorine is bad for the
respiratory system, but that’s how we learned
that in the right amounts, Chlorine can kill
the bad-for-you bacteria and gross germs
living in your drinking water, and Chlorine can kill
what can grow into something much worse for you
while stewing in a stagnant swimming pool.