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

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

Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading from the Down in the Dirt 5-8/22 issue collection book “The Final Frontier” her Periodic Table poem “Zinc” (which also appears in the Janet Kuypers poetry book “Periodic Table Poetry”), and her Twitter Verse Periodic Table poems “Zinc as Philosopher’s Wool” and “Fermium— bad and good?” (+ image) on 12/7/22, the 1st Wednesday of the month in honor of ‘Community Poetry’ (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). This video was also filmed from a Samsung S9 camera, and posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersperiodictablepoem #janetkuyperstwitterverseperiodictablepoem #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuypers

Zinc (#030) 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 The prescription drugs I have to live on suppresses my immune system, so I’ll have to get more religious about taking more vitamins and minerals. Time to o.d. on vitamin C. Take my daily B, E, get everything from A to Zinc. It’s funny, I see Zinc throat lozenges for colds, so I should hedge my bets and take Zinc every day. My sister was stunned when she heard this. “You can take that much? I can’t take Zinc daily.” But the thing is, Zinc is in almost a hundred enzymes needed for plant and animal life. Besides, when cold season comes I see more and more ads for Zinc in lozenges and O.T.C. medications. And two billion people in developed countries even have Zinc deficiency, which could cause growth retardation, delayed sexual maturity, regular diarrhea, or the one I have to fear: infection susceptibility. But since the element Zinc is so hard and brittle, too much Zinc can sap the copper from our bodies (and we need those metal elements coursing through our veins). And soil with too much Zinc could mean that plants we eat won’t absorb the other metals they need. And it's funny, since it was discovered in the seventeen hundreds, alchemists used to burn zinc from the air, to get what they called “white snow,” or “philosopher’s wool,” because it collected in puffs. Hmmm. Philosopher’s Wool. Maybe I can wax philosophic about how Zinc — this philosopher’s wool — can protect my immune system, and help me grapple with the philosophical questions in life. But then the Germans discovered that Zinc is a great anti-corrosive agent, more reactive than iron or steel. It stops metals from corroding, it can even stop wood from catching fire... But we need Zinc within us as well as around what we need. I don’t know, I’m just glad that my stomach doesn’t react badly to taking Zinc supplements daily, because since I want to make sure I’m as healthy as I can be for as long as I can be, taking more of a metallic element like Zinc than the average person does really is a small price to pay.

Zinc Janet Kuypers from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series first starteds 7/16/12, completed 8/1/12 After my injectable medication prescription started, I learned that the drug I had to take would suppress my immune system, which meant I’d have to start getting flu shots, dress for the weather because it’s easier to get a cold or a fever, and get more religious about taking more vitamins and minerals. Time to o.d. on vitamin C. Take some D when the sun’s not out. Get your daily B, E, iron, calcium, and Zinc. It’s funny, I see Zinc throat lozenges for when people get sick to try to speed their recovery, but I figured I should hedge my bets and take the supplements every day. When I told my sister I started taking Zinc after the injectable medication regimen began, she was stunned. “You can take that much? I can’t take that much Zinc like that daily.” But the thing is, Zinc is in nearly one hundred enzymes needed for plant and animal life. So whether or not you think the idea of eating this metal is good for you or not, it’s apparently needed, and if it’ll help me stay healthy I’ll make a point to somehow consume my share. Besides, when cold season comes annually I see more and more advertisements for zinc lozenges and over the counter medications, because zinc will help stop any infections so that people can get on with their lives again. I mean, two billion people in developed countries actually even have Zinc deficiency, which could cause growth retardation, delayed sexual maturity, regular diarrhea, or the one I have to fear: infection susceptibility. So I just have to keep in mind the ways that Zinc is needed in the body... Being the fourth most common element (behind iron, aluminum and copper), it’s easy to want to consume Zinc because you think it’s entirely for your own good. But even though Zinc as an element is hard and brittle, too much Zinc can actaully sap the copper from our bodies (because we apparently need a lot of metal elements in our body to keep us strong and make us work right). And the way too much Zinc can sap the copper from our bodies, soil with too much Zinc from local mining could mean that plants (which need metals to live, and we need those plants for food) won’t be able to absorb the other metals they need. And since it was discovered in the seventeen hundreds, alchemists used to burn zinc from the air, to get what they called “white snow,” or “philosopher’s wool,” because it collected in puffs. Hmmm. Philosopher’s Wool. Not half bad sounding. Maybe I can wax philosophic about how Zinc — this philosopher’s wool — can protect my immune system, and help me grapple with the philosophical questions of life. But really, after the Germans discovered Zinc in the seventeen hundreds, they started using it as a plating of steel, and we have later found that Zinc is a great anti-corrosive agent, because it’s more reactive than iron or steel. Zinc was used throughout history also in brass, but thinking of those nearly one hundred enzymes used for plant and animal life that use Zinc, it made me think of all of the compounds and ions Zinc is now used for: Zinc gluconate is that dietary supplement, Zinc chloride is added to lumber as a fire retardant, Zinc sulfide is even used in luminescent paints, and hey, let’s make this a little more personal for us humans here, Zinc pyrithione is used for anti-dandruff shampoo, and Zinc chlorinate is used in deodorants... So yeah, from what I’ve learned Zinc is needed in so many ways, on so many levels, for both us animals and the plants we need to live our lives. It’s strange to think that one element like Zinc can be used for many different purposes (like stopping metals from corroding or stopping wood from catching fire)... But we also have to keep in mind that Zinc, in nearly one hundred enzymes needed for our plant and animal life, proves that we need Zinc within us as well as around what we need. I don’t know, I’m just glad that my stomach doesn’t react badly to taking Zinc supplements daily, because since I want to make sure I’m as healthy as I can be for as long as I can be, taking more of a metallic element like Zinc than the average person does really is a small price to pay.

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