[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 this Youtube video of this poem read live outdoors at the Chicago “L” train for the 2012 Poetry Bomb 4/29/12

Watch this Youtube video of Kuypers reading ALL Periodic Table of Poetry poems (including this poem) at the Chicago “L” train for the 2012 Poetry Bomb 4/29/12

See YouTube video of Kuypers reading this poem 11/7/12 at the Café Gallery in Chicago (Canon)

See YouTube video of Kuypers reading this poem 11/7/12 at the Café Gallery in Chicago (Sony)

See YouTube video of Kuypers hosting the open mic 11/7/12 at Gallery Cabaret’s the Café Gallery in Chicago, plus this poem

Enjoy this Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Lithium to Calm my Nerves”, “Lithium”, and “Like I Was Never There” from the v194 4/22 Down in the Dirt book “Seahorse” during her “Poetic License global open mic 4/3/22” she hosted through a Zoom meeting and a Facebook event page (this video was filmed & streamed from a Samsung S9 camera with a Lava Lamp filter; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuypersperiodictablepoem #janetkuyperstwitterverseperiodictablepoem #janetkuyperspoeticlicense

Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Lithium to Calm my Nerves”, “Lithium”, and “Like I Was Never There” from the v194 4/22 Down in the Dirt book “Seahorse” during her “Poetic License global open mic 4/3/22” she hosted through a Zoom meeting and a Facebook event page (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuypersperiodictablepoem #janetkuyperstwitterverseperiodictablepoem #janetkuyperspoeticlicense

See this YouTube video (posted 5/11/22, a Wednesday like The Café Gallery open mic dates) of Janet Kuypers reading her poem “Lithium” from the Down in the Dirt v194 4/22 book “Seahorse” when visiting Chicago 3/29/22 for “The Café Gallery 5/10/22 Book Reading” in The Café Gallery Book Reading series (video from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoem #janetkuypersperiodictablepoem #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuypersthecafegallery

See this YouTube video (posted 5/10/22, a Tuesday like The Café open mic dates) of Janet Kuypers reading her poem “Lithium” from the Down in the Dirt v194 4/22 book “Seahorse” when visiting Chicago 3/29/22 for “The Café Gallery 5/11/22 Book Reading” in The Café Gallery Book Reading series (this video was filmed from a Samsung S9 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoem #janetkuypersperiodictablepoem #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuypersthecafegallery

Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Zap My Will” (+ image), “Ruthenium for Free” (+ image), and “Ruthenium” from the cc&d 1-4/22 issue collection book “Unfinished Business”, then her poems “Boron’s Birth” (+ image), “Boron nitride stretching” (+ image), “Lithium to Calm my Nerves”, “Lithium”, and “Nitrogen with an icy heart” (+ image) from the Down in the Dirt 1-4/22 Down in the Dirt issue collection book “The Ice that Was” on 8/3/22 on the 1st Wednesday of the month (1:00-3:00 PM CST) in honor of ‘Community Poetry’ (from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers#janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuypersperiodictablepoem #janetkuyperstwitterverseperiodictablepoem #janetkuyperspoetry

Enjoy this Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Zap My Will” (+ image), “Ruthenium for Free” (+ image), and “Ruthenium” from the cc&d 1-4/22 issue collection book “Unfinished Business”, then her poems “Boron’s Birth” (+ image), “Boron nitride stretching” (+ image), “Lithium to Calm my Nerves”, “Lithium”, and “Nitrogen with an icy heart” (+ image) from the Down in the Dirt 1-4/22 Down in the Dirt issue collection book “The Ice that Was” on 8/3/22 on the 1st Wednesday of the month (1:00-3:00 PM CST) in honor of ‘Community Poetry’ (streamed from a Samsung S9 camera; posted on Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypersperiodictablepoem #janetkuyperstwitterverseperiodictablepoem #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading

Lithium Janet Kuypers from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series 4/17/12 I know I needed you around me, I was desperate. I know I wanted you in my life to calm me down. I know I needed you to stop me from my manic episodes. They told me it’s not an addiction I have with you, but then they told me that if I broke away from you altogether I would cycle back to my old psychotic, unhealthy ways. So please don’t tell me I’m crazy for wanting you. But I just couldn’t stand being me. I just wanted to calm down. I was desperate for you. I wanted to feel normal again. You were the one to calm ME down, but the thing is, you were the one that was also supposed to help me with my poor judgment and aggression. Because when I was with you, I felt like my blood was on fire. With you around I couldn’t eat any more. I felt dizzy with you, I’d feel tremors and twitching. You made me unsteady. On the surface, you seemed soft to me, with you silver-white hair. With your lightness, I forgot how metallic you were when we joined. And now look what we’ve become. When we finally got together, when we fused together, when we were finally ready to take each other in, we became the source for the most violent explosion. We became a part of a preordained cycle I couldn’t escape, we became radioactive and caused something so unstable that we destroyed everything we had. You helped my destroy everything that was me.

Copyright © Janet Kuypers.

All rights reserved. No material
may be reprinted without express permission.

Like Janet Kuypers’ writing on any of these links below: