Peoridci yal l on the Beach - Scars

Janet Kuypers 7/21/13Periodic Table poems performedlive at Chicago’s “Beach Poets”

Periodicallyon the Beach

cc&d chapbook1068 - 51541555 - 1555

Mendelevium#101, Md

“Once, there lived and existeda great learned man,with a beardalmost as long as God’s.”

Daniel Posen wrote that,about Demitri Mendeleev,a Russian scientistwho created the Periodic Table as we know it.

There’s even a sculptureoutside the Bratislava, SlovakiaUniversity of Technology —in the center is Mendeleev’s head,fully adorned with metallic curvesfor his flowing name and beard,as rows of elementsemanate from his head.

Because while other scientiststried to come up with waysto order the known elements,Mendeleev predicteda system of elements,based on their weightsand explaining their properties —this idea showed the spacesbetween the atomic weightsof discovered elements,and explained the propertiesof elements that would only bediscovered in the future.

. Janet Kuypers .

. 2 .

It’s good to knowthat just a few years afterthe American Civil War ended,that scientists globallywere able to understandthe relationship betweenthe elements, thanks to Mendeleev.

And it’s sadthat the science communitywaited for nearly half a centuryafter this God-like scientist’s deathto mane an element after him.

#

Mendeleev did many odd jobsduring his life,not unlike Albert Einstein,with an element named after himonly two spots awayon Mendeleev’s Periodic Table.And the thing is,Mendelevium is only createdafter smashing Einsteiniumwith alpha particles...

But it’s sad,that with all of the researchthe world has doneto learn about this element,we still know so little.Mendeleev taught ushow to research and discover more,but now that we foundonly trace amounts of Mendelevium,we still don’t know what to do...

#

. Periodically on the Beach .

. 3 .

Because once we’ve found you,if you don’t give us enoughso we can learn,we’re forced to wonder:will you be more like Einsteinium,silvery-white, radioactive —but with an estimated enthalpythat underlines your danger to us?Because I imagine that you,like Mendeleev,will show us how to learnthen leave us aloneto struggle for you.

Roentgenium#111, Rg

Being in just the right placeat just the right timeis what getting what you wantis all about.

#

Thirteen nuclear researchersbombarded Bismuth two oh ninewith Nickel sixty four ionsto make the Nickel penetratethe Bismuth nucleus,so they’d come togetherto make a bigger atom.

So the Nickel had to go fast enoughto penetrate the Bismuth nuclei(not too fast, but not too slow),and still, you’d lose a lot of atomstospace.

Enough experiments,enough times,created more atomsof elementone one one.

They looked for so long,and no one knows for surewhat Roentgenium looks like,so the researchers startedpredicting it’s propertiesbecause it has such a shorthalf life.

. Janet Kuypers .

. 4 .

#

And on the anniversary of when this all came togetherin just the right way,at just the right time,that’s when John Hinckley,after stalking the rock starand watching his habits,that’s when he walkedfrom the sidewalkand shot John Lennon.

Because as I said,you have to bein just the right placeat just the right timeto make everythingcome together,don’t you.

#

But if we got enoughof one one one,we’d love this precious metal —even if only for a short while.


. 5 .

Actinium#089, Ac

So at my old jobwe had to work withthis piece of machinerythat in order for it to work,needed to be poweredby eight D cell batteries.

Yeah, we could haveplugged it in,but there never was an outletin the places wherewe actually usedthis machinery.

And these eightD cell batterieswe had to usewere lasting onlyliketwo to four hours,so we had togo through anywherefrom four to eightsets of batteries a day.

. Janet Kuypers .

. 6 .

I mean, that’s insane,having to go throughall that battery power,so I called the manufacturerto see if any battery packshad a longer life,I even askedif rechargeable battery packsexisted for it.They said there were norechargeable battery packs,but a sales engineer theresaid they had a speciallong life battery packthat lasts several years.Sounds like a good plan,so I asked for pricing,and found out it wasthousands of dollars.

Yeah, this battery packcould run fromfourteen thousand dollarsto upwards offorty thousand dollars...

But I was prepared to goto our supervisor withthese figures, becauseyeah, that’s a lot of money,but if we keep using this machinewe’ll spend that on batteriesin less time.

So I called that sales engineeragain for more information,and that’s when he told mesorry, we couldn’t buy it.Now, I know it’s expensive,but I had to know what’s up,and he said they could only sell itto NASA,the DOD,and select US government agencies.

So yeah, I had to ask why,and found out it was a specialradioactive thermoelectric batteryfor use in outer space.

it seems that theradioactive Actiniumwas the fuelfor the workthat I need to do.

I guess it figures,that the only thingthat could help out my workis something insanely rare,and insanely expensive,and it’s best suitedfor spacecraft —not down here,where I’ve got work to do....


. 7 .

Yttrium#39, Y

Recently NASA sent a rocketto collide with a cometto gather comet dust,so they could learn about comets,which contain the primordial partsof what started this solar system.

A compact disc bearing my namewas mounted on the impactorspacecraft shot into spaceon this Deep Impact mission.

Although this was the first NASAmission with my name on it,it was also the first NASA missionto learn about what’s deep insidea comet.

The rocket combustion chamberthat shot this impactor spacecrafton it’s collision coursewith Comet Tempel 1,had a silver-colored liningof an alloy of nickel, chromium,aluminum and Yttrium.Yttrium makes sense, becauseYttrium has been usedin places from MRI scanners(to help us heal)to CRT tubes on TV sets(to help us see).

. Janet Kuypers .

. 8 .

Yttrium makes elementcompounds stronger(good for stellar travel)...Besides, the fact that Yttriumis colorless, odorless,and not naturally magneticgives it an added pluswhile being a part of the launchingof the rocket I tacked my name ontowhen looking for a comet.It’ll help us see more thanwhat’s inside our bodies, orwhat a cathode ray tube could —it may help us seewhere we came fromin this solar system too.


. 9 .

Holmium#67, Ho

Got a set of poetry word magnets(so you could arrange words on your fridgeto write a message, or write a poem),and even though I rememberedthat magnets have two sides with two poles,I still took one of the magnets(I think the word on this magnet was “stick”)and turned it around, to seehow it wouldn’t stick to the fridge.

Now, Holmium has the highestmagnetic strength of any element,so I thought about this magnet’s poles —but I didn’t know that scientistshave been using Holmiumto try to discover the widely theorizedand avidly debated “magnetic monopole”(a magnet that only has one pole).Grand unified and superstring theoriespredict their existence, and thesemagnetic monopoles could explain a tonabout space, time, and the laws of physics.But the theory is that there’s so little of it,and nobody’s been able to even find it,so they’ll keep using this magnetic Holmiumto try to find this hypothetical particle...

. Janet Kuypers .

. 10 .

And it’s strange, when it comes to Holmium,I mean, it’s used to color cubic zirconia...And when it comes to that magnetism,Holmium can even absorb nuclear neutrons.But the cool thing is that Holmiumis used for dental and medical purposes,and it’s even used with solid state lasersto remove some early stage cancerswith only a local anesthetic.

Wow, thatand it can help scientistsunderstand more about the universe(even if it’s only on a quantum level).

I guess there was a reason whyI was so drawn to these qualities....


. 11 .

Alumium?Aluminium?Aluminum?

#13, A l

So back in the day,this is how researchersconducted sciencewhen working with thingsthey didn’t know...

So when a Denmark manin eighteen twenty-fivediscovered element thirteen,(and wanting to knoweverything about it),he tasted the element.Thinking it was bitter(and made his mouthtighten like he ate alum),he posed the namefor element thirteento be Alumium.But I think the scientiststhat formed theelement-naming communitydidn’t like that name,so the called the element“Alumunium”.

But the element’s nameis Aluminum,Aluminium is a British thing,so why is it knownin the statesas Aluminum?

. Janet Kuypers .

. 12 .

Well, I heard a manexplain that he heard(now I don’t knowif this is true,but hear me out)he heard that in the stateswhen a company(wait, it might have beenthe Aluminum Companyof America, ALCOA,but I’m not sure)when it was starting,it filed it’s nameto the federal government,and when meaning to write“the AluminiumCompany of America,”they forgotthe letter “i”,so their name becamethe Aluminum Companyof America.

And, well, it stuck,not only to the company,but also to the sciencecommunity in America,and because someoneforgot to writethe letter “i”for registeringa company name,all American-speaking countriesnow say “Aluminum”instead of “aluminium”.

So from tasting like alumto mis-spelling a word,Alumium, I mean,Aluminuium, orrather, Aluminum,now has quite a list

of aliases...


. 13 .

Thulium#69, Tm

Scroll to Medieval times,and see a classical map.

Look over the Carta Marina,because there you can findwhat some theorizedas an island of antiquity —through for those who traveledby boat around Britain,the Thule was the most northerlyof the Britannic Islands.In ancient literature, however,the Ultima Thulewas the symbol fora far-off land,something unattainable.

And when Thulium was discoveredin the late eighteen hundreds(named after Thule,as a mythical regionin Scandinavia),the element was so rare thatit’s qualities were unattainable...

. Janet Kuypers .

. 14 .

But even though this isthe rarest of the rare,and despite the high cost,it’s in the YAG laser, usedfor laser surgery, for workunattainable by the human hand.It’s even bombardedin a nuclear reactorfor it’s use in portablex-ray devices,so we can seewhat was otherwiseunattainable to the naked eye.

I mean, because ofThulium’s fluorescence,it’s even inside euro banknotes,to prevent counterfeiting.

Because Thulium fluoresceswith a deep blue hue,we’ll sail the oceansto learn, we’ll go tothe farthest places we know,just to see trace glimpses,because we want to go beyondwhat we see...


. 15 .

Ruthenium#44, Ru

I’ve looked for somethingthat would pique my interest,the palladium bored me,platinum was too expensivebecause it was often so rare,but then I looked aroundand that’s when I discovered you.

I mean, there didn’t seem to bemuch of a use for you,I even heard that a metals companyeven offered 100 grams of youfree to aspiring researchers(hoping that someoneone day may find a use for you)...

Organometallic chemistry expertswere even trying to give you away.

Well, sure, chemists used you —they mixed you with whateverthey could find, just to seewhat you might possibly create.

. Janet Kuypers .

. 16 .

(Kind of like a bartender,trying to come up withthe perfect cocktail, theycould mix for decades...)

but I’ve looked into it,and you’re a cheap dull grey,probably somethingI’d find at a Walmart...

I know, I said I was lookingfor something to pique my interest,and though you come around cheaply,you’re still harder to find.I’ll keep looking for somethingto pique my interest,and who knows, maybeone daypeople will find just the right niche,and you’ll be just what I need.


. 17 .

Technetium#43, Tc

You’re named from the Greek word for “artificial”,because you were the first element man ever made...

We wanted to discover, we wanted to find you out —we’d even create you if this was the only way.

We can only find you after your brethrenhave been broken apart to reveal you. But the thing is,

your name is a bit misleading, though, sinceyou can be found naturally, albeit in trace amounts.

Though it’s funny, we searched for you for so long,and now we discover that you’re a by-product

of our nuclear power stations. Then everyone thoughtwe wouldn’t know what to do with nuclear waste.

. Janet Kuypers .

. 18 .

You’ve been put into the environment as“low-level-waste” for nearly half a century,

but what I’ve learned is that doctors injectsmall amounts of you into patients with tumors,

so they can see exactly where they need to heal people.People wondered what we’d do with our nuclear waste,

but now you’re used in 20 million medical procedureseach year, because your short half-life makes you safe

and the way you decay helps doctors seeexactly what they need to do to save a life.

And yeah, you’re nuclear waste injected into a human,but they need such a small amount that radiation is low.

It’s hard to believe that we searched for you for so long,and now that you’re injected into 20 million patients —

in North America alone — every year,it’s good that we finally found you out.


. 19 .

. 20 .

. Janet Kuypers .

Periodicallyon the Beach

Janet Kuypershttp://www.janetkuypers.com

Scars Publicationshttp://scars.tv/kuypers/poems/periodic-table-of-poetry.htm

published in conjunction with cc&d magazinethe UN-religious, NON-family oriented literary and art magazine

[email protected] http://scars.tv/ccdISSN 1068-5154 INTERNET ISSN #1555-1555

Writing Copyright © 2013 Janet Kuypers.Design Copyright © 2013 Scars Publications and Design

Magazines: Children, Churches and Daddies (cc&d magazine), founded June 1993; Down in the Dirt, conceived 1994, founded 2000

Books: Hope Chest in the Attic, the Window, Close Cover Before Striking, (Woman.), Autumn Reason, Contents Under Pressure, the Average Guy’s Guide (to Feminism), Changing Gears, the Key to Believing, Domestic Blisters, Etc., Oeuvre, Exaro Versus, L’arte, The Other Side, The Boss Lady’s Editorials (reg.& 2005 Expanded Edition), Duality, Seeing Things Differently, Change/Rearrange, Death Comes in Threes, Moving Performances, Six Eleven, Life at Cafe Aloha, Creams, Rough Mixes, The Entropy Project, The Other Side (2006Edition), Stop., Sing Your Life, The Beauty and the Destruction, cc&d v167.5 (Writing to Honour & Cherish, editor edition), Blister & Burn (the Kuypers edition), S&M, cc&d v170.5 Distinguished Writings editor edition, Living in Chaos, Silent Screams, Taking It All In, It All Comes Down,Rising to the Surface, Galapagos, Chapter 38 (v1, v2 & v3), Finally, Literature for the Snotty and Elite (v1, v2 & part 1), a Wake-Up Call From Tradition, (recovery), Dark Matter: the Mind of Janet Kuypers, Evolution, (tweet), Get Your Buzz On, Janet &Jean Together, po•em, Taking Poetry to the Streets, the Cana-Dixie Chi-town Union, the Written Word, Dual, Prepare Her for This, Uncorrect, Living in a Big World, Pulled the Trigger, Venture to the Unknown, Janet Kuypers: Enriched, She’s an Open Book, “40”, Sexism andOther Stories, the Stories of Women, Prominent Pen (Kuypers edition), Elemental, the 2012 Datebook, Prominent Tongue, Chaotic Elements, Fusion, Stabity Stabity Stab Stab Stab, a Picture’s Worth 1,000 words (color art book and b&w art book), Life, in Color, Post-Apocalyptic,Give What You Can, Down in the Dirt v084, Come Fly With Me, Clearing the Debris, Sectioned & Sequestered, Six Six Six, Skeletal Remains, Out of the Web, Don’t Tread on Me, Lines of Intensity, Entering the Ice Age, When the World Settles, Into the White,Along the Surface, Life... from Nothing, the Line to Power, Fear the Forsaken, Down In It, Falling Into Place, Wake Up and Smell the Flowers, Unknown, Looking Beyond, Forever Bound, See the World Burn,Exploding on the Scene, America the Lost, Moving theEarth, Catch Fire in the Treetops, Autumn Again, Wisdom in Broken Hands, Up In Smoke. Symbols Manifest, No Return, Grounded, Perfectly Imperfect, Wrapping It Up, Infamous in our Prime, Anais Nin: an Understanding of her Art, the Electronic Windmill, Changing Woman, the Swan Road, the Significance of the Frontier, The Svetasvatara Upanishad, Harvest of Gems, the Little Monk, Death in Málaga,Momento Mori, In the Palace of Creation, R.I.P., Bob the Bumble Bee, Remnants and Shadows, I Saw This, the Drive, Thomas at Tea, Crashing Down Nineteenth, Blue Collar Ballet, nopoem, In Your Heart the Apostrophe’ s Teardrops of God, the Adventures of the Key toBelieving Bear, Anais Nin: an Understanding of her Art (second printing), Deckard Kinder / Charlie Newman, 12 Times 12 Equals Gross, a Marble Nude Pauline Borchese with a Marble Apple in her Marble Hand, Challenge of Night and Day and Chicago Poems, LightenUp, Not Far From Here, Watershed, You Have Finally Won, Avenue C, Suburban Rhythms, Down Syndrome, the Dark Side of Love, The pill is a man’s best Friend, Angel’s Syllable Is Good Boss of Devil’s Spine, Poems and Stories from The Blue Collar Book of theDead, Cat People, Death of an Angel, Ghost, Science: A Curmudgeon’s View, Ghost Dancers Leaping from a Tome, the 4-D Window, Open Wounds, Anime Junkie, Interstice, Gunther, Cuts, Scream Cloud Island, When the World was Black and White, a Petal UnderPavement, the Holy See of CEE, Lost in an Echo, Book 15 * Thailand to Volcanoes, I Was Charles Bronson’s Secret Hostage, Erasable Bond, Sulphur & Sawdust, Slate & Marrow, Blister & Burn, Rinse & Repeat, Survive & Thrive, (not so) Warm & Fuzzy, Torture & Triumph, Oh., the Elements, Side A/Side B, Balance, Chaos Theory, Writing To Honour & Cherish, Distinguished Writings, Breaking Silences, Unlockingthe Mysteries, the Book of Scars, We The Poets, Life on the Edge, Revealing all your Dirty Little Secrets, Decrepit Remains, Charred Remnants, Hope & Creation, Bending the Curve, Layers of Creation, Dark Matter, Survival of the Fittest, Crawling Through the Dirt, Laying the Groundwork, Weathered,echo, Ink in my Blood, (bound) (4 editions), Enriched Poetry, cc&d Enriched Prose, Enriched with Dirt, An Open Book, Literary Town Hall (2 editions), Prominent Pen (2 editions), 100 Words, 1,000 Words, the 2012 Literary Date Book, It Was All Preordained, CulturalTouchstone, the Mission (issue edition and chapbooks edition), Purpose, Falling, Cheap Thrills, After the Apocalypse 2013 date book, After the Apocalypse (poery edition), After the Apocalypse (prose edition), Entanglement, Guilt by Association

Compact Discs: Mom’s Favorite Vase the demo tapes, Kuypers the final (MFV Inclusive), Weeds and Flowers the beauty & the desolation, The Second Axing Something is Sweating, The Second Axing Live in Alaska, Pettus & Kuypers Live at Cafe Aloha, Pointless OrchestraRough Mixes, Kuypers Seeing Things Differently, 5D/5D Tick Tock, Kuypers Change Rearrange, Order From Chaos The Entropy Project, Kuypers Six One One, Kuypers Stop., Kuypers Masterful Performances mp3 CD, Kuypers Death Comes in Threes, Kuypers Changing Gears, Kuypers Dreams, Kuypers How Do I Get There?,Kuypers Contact•Conflict•Control, the DMJ Art Connection the DMJ Art Connection, Kuypers Questions in a World Without Answers, Kuypers SIN, Kuypers WZRD Radio (2 CD set), Mom’s Favorite Vase and The Second Axing These Truths, assorted artists String Theory, Oh (audio CD), Life At The Cafe (3 CD set), the DMJ ArtConnection Indian Flux, the DMJ Art Connection Manic Depressive or Something, Chaotic Radio Chaotic Radio Week #1, Chaotic Radio Chaotic Radio Week #2, Chaotic Radio Chaotic Radio Week #3, Chaotic Radio Chaotic Radio Week #4, Chaotic Radio Chaotic Radio Week #5, Chaotic Radio the Chaotic Collection Collection #01-05(5 CD set) etc. (audio CD, 2 CD set), Chaotic Elements (2 CD set), Chaos in Motion (6 CD set), 5D/5D Screeching to a Halt (EP), PB&J Two for the Price of One (EP), Kiki, Jake and Haystack An American Portrait, Kuypers/the Bastard Trio/Paul Baker/the JoAnne Pow!ers Trio Fusion (4 CD set), podcasts the Evolution ofPerformance Art (13 CD set), Kuypers Live (14 CD set), the DMJ Art Connection the Things They Did to You (2 CD set), Kuypers Seeing a Psychiatrist (3 CD set), Kuypers St. Paul’ s (3 CD set), Kuypers the 2009 Poetry Game Show (3 CD set), Kuypers and the HA!man of South Africa Burn Through Me (2 CD set), Kuypers “40” ,Kuypers Sexism and Other Stories, Kuypers the Stories of Women (amazon.com release), Kuypers “Dobro Veče” (4 CD set) Kuypers “hmmm” (4 CD set), Kuypers “Letting it All Out” , Kuypers “What We Need In Life” (CD sngle), , Kuypers “Made Any Difference” (CD sngle), Kuypers/Hardwick “Across the Pond” (3 CD set).

Documents

Peoridci yal l on the Beach - Scars