poem Arsenic, a poem from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series By Chicago Poet Janet Kuypers, arsenic poem, arsenic-based life forms poem, elements poem, perodic table poem

[the Writing of Kuypers] [JanetKuypers.com] [Bio] [Poems] [Prose]

Download the free chapbook with this poem of the 2012 Poetry Bomb, with the Periodic Table of Poetry poems.

Watch the YouTube video
of this Kuypers reading the poem live 1/26/13 on Chicago’s WZRD 88.3 FM radio (Canon),
with music from the HA!Man of South Africa
(2011 Hotel music “the Ice is Melting”)

Enjoy this feature-length YouTube video live 1/26/13 of Kuypers reading her Periodic Table poetry in “Periodic Prep for Radio Poetry” on Chicago’s WZRD 88.3 FM radio, read to music from the HA!Man of South Africa’s 2011 Hotel music the Ice is Melting (this video was filmed from a Canon camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Link ed in, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersperiodictablepoem

See YouTube video
1/26/13 of Kuypers reading 8 Periodic Table poems (including this poem) on Chicago’s WZRD 88.3 FM radio (Samsung), with the HA!Man of South Africa’s 2011 Hotel music the Ice is Melting playing

Watch this YouTube video
of this “Periodic Table of Poetry” poem read live in Chicago 1/30/13 (Canon) at her feature Poetry Saloon at Noon

Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her “Periodic Table” poems live in her Chicago 1/30/13 feature Poetry Saloon at Noon, with background music from the HA!Man of South Africa’s “Wayward Waltz of the Fractured Wind” (filmed from a Canon camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Link ed in, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersperiodictablepoem

Download this poem in the free chapbook
the Poetry Saloon at Noon,
w/ the Periodic Table of Poetry poems
chapbook of poems in this show.

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her Periodic Table poems “Iridium”, “Calcium”, and “Arsenic” from her 1/30/13 poetry feature for Poetry Saloon at Noon, all read from her v5 cc&d poetry book “On the Edge” 1/19/19 at Austin’s “Recycled Reads” (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her Periodic Table poems “Iridium”, “Calcium”, and “Arsenic” from her 1/30/13 poetry feature for Poetry Saloon at Noon, all read from her v5 cc&d poetry book “On the Edge” 1/19/19 at Austin’s “Recycled Reads” (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her v331 3/23 cc&d issue/book “Not There Anymore” poems “Just Checking my Religions” (which will also be in the 2023 CyberWit.net book “Testa ment”), “Arsenic” (which is also in her book “Periodic Ta ble Poetry”), and “the State of the Nation (2016 edit)” to start her “Poetic License 3/5/23 global open mic” she hosted in a Zoom meeting & a Facebook event page (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Linked in, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). This performance was also released as a Facebook live video stream that was filmed from a Samsung S9 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, and Tumblr. #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuyperswomensrights #janetkuypersequalityforwomen #janetkuypersperiodictablepoem #janetkuyperspoeticlicense

Arsenic (#033)
edited for the “Poetry Saloon at Noon” feature
at the Chicago Cultural Center 1/30//13
Janet Kuypers
from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series
Poisonous Arsenic is used in paints, dyes, metals,
drugs, soaps, even animal feeding operations.
We seem to hunt down ways
to kill ourselves,
don’t we.
Dukes to Kings were poisoned with Arsenic...
Impressionist painters painted
with Arsenic-laced Emerald Green paint,
which caused diabetes and blindness.

Then I heard NASA announce
that Arsenic-based life forms
were discovered on Earth.
But how could something that kills
actually help produce life?
Now, in order for life to exist,
we need six elements:
carbon,
hydrogen,
nitrogen,
oxygen,
phosphorus
and sulfur.
Well, NASA scientists checked
if any bacterium could ever live
in an Arsenic-flooded environment.
So they went to
Mono Lake, California,
to see if anything could thrive there,
with a surplus of salts
and excesses of Arsenic.
So NASA pulled phosphorus
from that elemental sextet of life,
and lo and behold,
a minute species used Arsenic
instead of phosphorus there.
And at Mono Lake,
it thrived there quite nicely.
(So I suppose NASA found
even more bizarre life in California
than we were used to...)
Darwinism may show
that species can adapt to survive —
because who knows,
Arsenic in place of phosphorus on Earth
may date back to the origin of life,
where it may have occurred
in arsenic-rich hydrothermal vents.
I don’t know if we want to create
Arsenic life forms here on Earth,
but knowing this is possible
increases the probability
of finding life elsewhere in the universe.
And it’s nice to know
that we’re looking at all possibilities
when looking for what is ultimately
good to find life in this universe.

Arsenic
Janet Kuypers
from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series
4/24/12
Arsenic.
Just the name sounds poisonous.
I know it’s an element
in the Periodic Table,
but this odorless, tasteless demon
can work its way into our water
and eventually kill us
from the inside out.
And the thing is, Arsenic
occurs naturally everywhere,
and we even use this poison
as a wood preservative,
it’s even used in paints, dyes, metals,
drugs, soaps. And even more frightening
for all you meat eaters,
high arsenic levels are in
animal feeding operations.
We seem to hunt down ways
to kill ourselves,
don’t we.
I read about Arsenic poisoning
and Napoleon’s death.
Breathing it in or ingesting it,
Dukes to Kings were poisoned...
Even impressionist painters
used the pigment Emerald Green
which contained Arsenic, causing
diabetes, blindness, neurological disorders.
Scary stuff, this Arsenic.
So then I heard NASA announce
that Arsenic-based life forms
were discovered on Earth.
Strange stuff, this Arsenic.
I mean, how could something that kills
actually help produce life?
How could this happen?
Okay, go back to my science book:
in order for life to exist,
we need these six elements:
carbon,
hydrogen,
nitrogen,
oxygen,
phosphorus
and sulfur.
So, where does Arsenic
fit into the picture?
Well, it looks like NASA scientists
were trying to see if any bacterium
could ever live
in an Arsenic-flooded environment.
So they went to
Mono Lake, California,
to see if anything could thrive
with a surplus of salts
and excesses of Arsenic.
So, in that elemental sextet of life,
they pulled out phosphorus,
to see what any bacteria species
might do.
Lo and behold,
the extremophilic species GFAJ-1
just decided to use Arsenic
instead of phosphorus,
and with all the Arsenic around them,
the bacteria thrived quite well.
And the name “GFAJ-1”
actually stands for
“Give Felisa a Job”.
Really.
So I guess it’s not hard to believe
that in their search
they we able to find
even more bizarre life in California
than we were used to.
And Mono Lake has always had
a productive ecosystem.
And many bacteria can tolerate
the high levels of arsenic,
or even take it in their cells.
But they just now proved,
that when starved of phosphorus,
some species could even grow
with Arsenic.
Hmmm.
Perplexing stuff, this Arsenic.
I don’t know if we want to create
Arsenic life forms here on Earth,
but knowing this is possible
increases the probability
of finding life elsewhere in the universe.
Spooky stuff, this Arsenic.
And who knows,
Arsenic in place of phosphorus on Earth
may date back to the origin of life,
where it may have occurred
in arsenic-rich hydrothermal vents.
Fascinating,
this speculating
about Arsenic.
And Darwinism may show
that species can adapt to survive —
I mean, we have found that bacteria
can adapt to artificially stringent
environmental conditions.
And who knows, maybe the NASA claim
that arsenic had been incorporated
into the backbone of DNA is not
ultimately true, I mean, Arsenic
just stepped in for the missing phosphorous,
so there may be no Arsenic in the DNA at all.
So give NASA a break,
they’re trying...
Because scientifically supported
statements or not,
it’s nice to know
that we’re looking at all possibilities
when looking for what is ultimately
good for life in this universe.