Praseodymium(#59, Pr)

Janet Kuypers

“I once set fire to my fingernail.I wanted my finger to be ahuman candle.”She dropped another match into her glass.The flame sizzledin the drops of drink at the bottom.

In a corner booth, in this small clubthe flame she aroused looked likeany other table light.But if you looked too closely,the light would scorch your soul,would burn your eyes hollow.That little piece of energy she heldcould be so intensethat you needed that Praseodymiumin your eye glassesjust to look for another second.

The flame she arousedlooked like any other light,but she knew she was destinedfor the big screen,complete with studio lightingand projector lightsfrom the motion picture industrybroadcasting her to the worldthrough arc lights.

So she struck another matchat the side of the box.Six or seven lay on the cocktail napkin,ten more at the bottom of the glass.

. Pilsen, Periodically .Janet Kuypers Periodic Table poetry feature at the Pilsen Art Walk Poetry Reading

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She’d watch the reflectionof the gemstones in ringsacross her fingertipsreflecting that flame.The yellow-green cubic zirconiaon each of her fingersbounced the light of the flamein thousands of directions.

She likes gemstoneson her rings, she doesn’t botherwith big earringsor expensive necklaces —she looks at her handsbecause she likes rings;she can’t help it.

A few of those peridot-inspired stoneswere gifts from a loved one,because they knew they were dying soon.So she becomes the only onetreating these rings live gravestones,even when no one has even died yet.

And the person that gave her these rings,she knows they want to be cremated.Just then you could see the flamedancing at her fingertip.She shook the match. She dropped it in her glass.

. Pilsen, Periodically .Janet Kuypers Periodic Table poetry feature at the Pilsen Art Walk Poetry Reading

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Darmstadtium(#110, Ds)

Janet Kuypers

Element one one zeroin the periodic Table,Darmstadtium,originally didn’t have a name,so when the scientistsgave a space-filler nameto element one one zerothey gave propsto the Greeks and Latinsby calling itUnunnilium.

I’m sure it’s saidoon – un – nil – ee – um,or maybe oon – un – neel – ee – um,but knowing a thing or twoabout the town of Darmstadtduring the Nazi regime,I’m tempted to call itoon – un – nile - ee um.

Oon – un-nihliate.Get that heavy waterinto the handsof Nazi Germany,and you’ll understandthe word play.

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. Pilsen, Periodically .Janet Kuypers Periodic Table poetry feature at the Pilsen Art Walk Poetry Reading

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When Nazis took power in Germany,Darmstadt was the first cityto even force Jewish shops to close.

German scientists knewthey could use “heavy water”in an effort to make a nuclear bomb...And when the allies bombedthe Nazis in nineteen forty-threethe air raid forced Nazis to moveall of their “heavy water”to Germany for protection(at places like Darmstadt,where the super-heavy elementDarmstadtium was later discovered).

Then again, prominent membersof the German resistanceagainst the Naziswere citizens of Darmstadt.

And Darmstadt is where thebig German accelerator is situated...The GSI Heavy Ion Research Centreis in Darmstadt, and elementsare discovered there(like Darmstadtium). You see,they had to make Darmstadtiumin this big machinejust to discover it, becausethis synthetic elementisn’t even presentin the environment at all.I mean, we’ve only been ableto make just a few atomsof the super-heavy Darmstadtium...

. Pilsen, Periodically .Janet Kuypers Periodic Table poetry feature at the Pilsen Art Walk Poetry Reading

. 5 .

But then again,from what we could tell,it’s insanely radioactive,has an insanely short half life,and no stable isotopes.With all going against the natureof Darmstadtium, it’s no wonderthat there isn’t even much concernover guessing it’s potential physicaland chemical properties.

With such a short half life,there’s no point in wonderingabout the effect it might haveon the human bodyor even on the environment,because it just instantly decaysinto lighter elements instead.

With such a short half life,we’d have to slow down time itselfto even confirm it’s potentialsilvery-white luster.

Hmmm, slowing down time itself.Maybe that’s what we’d have to doto learn a thing or twoabout you,Darmstadtium.Because with yourhistory of instability,with such short amounts of youcreating only a flash of damage,we’ll let others wonderabout the potential foroon-un-nihilationbefore we trulylearn a thingor two.

. Pilsen, Periodically .Janet Kuypers Periodic Table poetry feature at the Pilsen Art Walk Poetry Reading

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Rhodium(#45, Rh)

When you say the word “menthol,”images probably crop up in your headof women holding a cigarette sticklike she’s using her smokeas an orchestra wand,tracing the line of smokelike she’s conducting a symphonywith her mint-tasting cancer stick.

But menthol’s also used in lip balms(I really like that stuff, too,I like the minty flavor on my lips) —it’s even used in cough medications.It can be used in those Icy Hot patches,menthol’s in decongestantslike Vicks VapoRub, it’s inaftershaves to relieve razor burn.Yeah, and speaking of the tastein cigarettes or lip balm, mentholis in mouthwashes, toothpastes,even chewing gum.

So really, now that you know howwidely it’s used now, you can seehow menthol’s demand is now so hugecompared to the natural supply.So in Japan, one man even won in 2001the Nobel Prize for Chemistry fora process to meet the demandfor more menthol worldwide.This Japanese team used Rhodiumbased catalysts for menthol synthesis.

. Pilsen, Periodically .Janet Kuypers Periodic Table poetry feature at the Pilsen Art Walk Poetry Reading

. 7 .

And yeah, Rhodium is used in catalystsfor anything from automobilecatalytic converters, or makingcertain silicone rubbers. And sure,Rhodium is used for jewelry,coating sterling silver to stop tarnishingor electroplating white gold and platinum,making it white and reflective.

I mean, the Guinness Book of World Recordsgave Paul McCartney a Rhodium-plated discin 1979 for being history’s all-time best-sellingsongwriter and recording artist.

Not gold. Not titanium. But Rhodium.

(And because Rhodium’s so expensive,that World Records award disc given toPaul McCartney isn’t even solid Rhodium.)

So I guess it’s kind of interesting thatthis expensive decorative jewelry additionis also used to give our chewing gumthat excellent minty flavor. So yeah,when you’re worrying about how moneycan seem tight sometimes,don’t worry about the jewelry.Just pop a stick of mint chewing gumin your mouth, thanks to Rhodium,and realize that we all probablydon’t have it that bad after all.

. Pilsen, Periodically .Janet Kuypers Periodic Table poetry feature at the Pilsen Art Walk Poetry Reading

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. children, churches and daddies chapbook .

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