The Subtle Arts of Chemistry

by Elizabeth R. McClellan

Dance the benzene ring around,

whirling six times three—

trace Lewis dot sigils in quicksilver,

ionic bond prisons for errant souls.

Mendeleev’s sacred alphabet hides

a multiplicity of gods, one hundred

eighteen abbreviated divinities.

Write their names on your heart

in columns ordered by gravitas.

Beware the so-called noble gases.

Aloof, they cannot be trusted

to aid when you call. Put your faith

in earthly things – carbon, oxygen,

hydrogen and helium, sun and starlight,

knowing you are already liquid

by nature though solid in form,

perhaps to sublimate someday.

Titrate glucol and atropa belladonna

drop by drop into a solution

of artemesia absinthium.

Note the moon and the lady

in your lab notebook,

the subtle changes in the green.

Dream of sailing

natural satellite seas,

a basalt summer cottage

on the shores of Mare Imbrium,

guide your meditations

toward the Technicolor advent

of distant stars, birthed

from the dust-cloud of your regrets.