Poetry Corner

• The Robot . Humorous.
• Favourite Words Peculiar.
• A poem of mineral names . Flawed.
• An unfinished poem about the metamict state Unfinished.

• My Best Friend

Untitled

Orpiment and tigers-eye,
Quartz, realgar, leucoxene.
Spinel and lapis-lazuli,
Diopside, zircon, spodumene.

Turquoise and lavendulan,
Blue John, Black Jack and Red Tile Ore.
Schorl and wad and asbolan,
Cupfernickel, diaspore.

John Faithfull 1994

The Robot

My nose, though pink,
Is made of zinc.
My ears of burnished gold.
My elbows cast from phosphor bronze
Are wondrous to behold.

My legs are long,
Of iron strong.
My feet of nickel bright.
My toes are forged from silver pure,
And twinkle in the light.

My streamlined bum,
Of platinum
Is intricately wrought.
My nerves of steely wire convey
My transmetallic thoughts.

And when I move,
The clanking noise
Proclaims a metal man.
And hence the robot's motto:
I clink therefore I clang.

©John Faithfull 1993.

Favourite Words

Silver flutes,
O servile zinc!
Sniff the twinkling kiss.
Syllabub and cactus twine,
And sponge the aerial crisp.

Vulpine tungsten,
Lilac snout.
Tweak the celestial lemon.
Lozenge lush with arcane twig,
Peep the tonsil crimson.

Neon. Pencil.
Wobble. Ink.
Thrill and rhombus; minx.
Nip, snip, glint and anaglypta.
Fluff and petal. Sphinx.

©John Faithfull 1993.

The Metamict State

Bonds when broken by the rays,
Reform again, and so you see
That xenotime thus retains
It's crystallinity.

Chemical purists may object to the metaphor of bonds breaking and reforming in an ionic lattice. For these people, I offer the following, less verbally pleasing alternative:

Ions displaced by the rays
Rebound again, and so you see
That xenotime thus retains
It's crystallinity

To be continued...

©John Faithfull 1994-2003

NB... This is not the only poem on this topic. I recently found that Roald Hoffmann, Nobel-prize winning chemist, dramatist and poet, wrote a book of poems entitled "The Metamict State". Although out of print, this is excellent - try getting a used copy on Amazon or similar!

(Chorus)
My woman she's gone and she's left me
My princess turned into a frog
My friends are all gone, and I'm all alone
My only pal left is my dog

I think I am terrible stupid
I ain't got the brains of a log
I haven't a clue, just what should I do
I may as well just ask my dog.

(Chorus)

I spent all my money on whisky
My mind it is heavily fogged
I think for a bottle of bourbon
I may well just trade my dear dog

(Chorus)

My doggie looked up and addressed me
O Master your drunk it is true
But don't trade me in for no bottle of gin
I'm you're pal, and I'll see you through

(Chorus)

I awoke with a big raging hunger
Sat down to a big bowl of yog
Urt and fruit, and it sure made me toot
I'm sure I smell worse than a hog

(Chorus)

But my dog he's a wonderful creature
Though perfect he's not, it is true
He likes to eat sweets, and chase flocks of sheep,
Smoke cigars and cocaine, and sniff glue

(Chorus)

More verses to follow?

© John Faithfull 1997-2001

© John Faithfull 2008