A Night in Recovery
By: Louise Kim
An apple falls from the tree.
I fall from my bed, eyes wide, pain starting to
Blossom from my spine / nerves / vertebrae / stacked
Like the thylakoids in the stoma,
Making its own food. The sunflower is
Self-sustaining, but we are destined
To live off the food we create for ourselves
In our kitchens, in our classrooms,
The latter is more lasting.
The stoichiometry problems lay like boulders on my shoulders,
A dynamic equilibrium is reached in the heart.
The titration, the pH changes as the color
Shifts from clear, to a sky blue
Only visible in the fortnights of August.
Then it gets darker. A navy, the pH rises
Over the limit. A basic solution now,
The thick clouds cover the
approaching night. December afternoons
When the sun retreats to rest and I
Come home, keys between fingers,
The sunflowers fading and dying, but it
Won’t be long until they take a peek at the sky
To see if light emerges from the
Concrete buildings.
I fall from my bed, eyes wide, pain starting to
Blossom from my spine / nerves / vertebrae / stacked
Like the thylakoids in the stoma,
Making its own food. The sunflower is
Self-sustaining, but we are destined
To live off the food we create for ourselves
In our kitchens, in our classrooms,
The latter is more lasting.
The stoichiometry problems lay like boulders on my shoulders,
A dynamic equilibrium is reached in the heart.
The titration, the pH changes as the color
Shifts from clear, to a sky blue
Only visible in the fortnights of August.
Then it gets darker. A navy, the pH rises
Over the limit. A basic solution now,
The thick clouds cover the
approaching night. December afternoons
When the sun retreats to rest and I
Come home, keys between fingers,
The sunflowers fading and dying, but it
Won’t be long until they take a peek at the sky
To see if light emerges from the
Concrete buildings.
Writer's Statement: Themes from my studies in chemistry and biology inspired me to write this poem. In this more abstract piece, I blur the borders between myself and the rest of nature, while recounting the cycle of a day in my life.