[the Writing of Kuypers] [JanetKuypers.com] [Bio] [Poems] [Prose]
See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her Periodic Table bonus poem Hydrogen Cyanide live 9/25/13 at the open mic the Café Gallery in Chicago (C) |
See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her Periodic Table bonus poem Hydrogen Cyanide live 9/25/13 at the open mic the Café Gallery in Chicago (S) |
See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her “Periodic Table of Poetry” poem Hydrogen Cyanide live in Chicago 10/31/13 at her Poe-Pourri mini-feature |
See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her “Periodic Table” poem Hydrogen Cyanide live in Chicago 10/31/13 at her Poe-Pourri mini-feature (w/ an older film age filter) |
See YouTube video 6/24/16 of Janet Kuypers reading 3 Periodic Table poems (that somehow all incorporate the concept somehow of sin), Hydrogen Cyanide, White Phosphorus & Helium Addiction at Georgetown’s Poetry Plus open mic (w/ a Canon Power Shot). |
See YouTube video 6/24/16 of Janet Kuypers reading 3 Periodic Table poems (that somehow all incorporate the concept somehow of sin), Hydrogen Cyanide, White Phosphorus & Helium Addiction at Georgetown’s Poetry Plus open mic (this video filmed w/ a Sony camera). |
Hydrogen CyanideJanet Kuypersbonus poem from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series (#01, H) started 9/5/13, edited 9/19/13 and 9/21/13, finished 9/22/13
He was once a college chemistry professor, so he
He ended up working at the Rundfunkhaus —
But after his university was bombed, he took
that didn’t require him to use a gun. But when
the Reich Main Security Office gave him orders
he solemnly went home to pack for his two-day #
He’d seen the Sachsenhausen concentration camp,
was more of a training centre for Schutzstaffel officers
And although Dachau was small, it was essentially
He felt the tension knot in his stomach grow, #
Arriving at the camp the next afternoon, he learned
so he could only get the necessary paperwork
at the camp, in a stranger’s office. He paced.
there was safety inside these office walls. #
After nearly an hour of pacing, he decided
And when he stepped outside the air felt heavy;
the weight of his legs grew heavier; he dragged
Although there was that heavy haze in the air,
to leave that distinct smell in the smoke
He saw across the clearing the doors close to the
to bring himself to the hall. He could hear
but he then caught a glimpse of a guard
got closer, he watched the soldier open
into the vent at the centre of the building,
the roof before taking the ladder back down.
made it’s way into that building, with
the wails and screams get louder and louder
Look, he thought, he knew what this was,
to get his heavy feet moving again. He
from the building, and quickened his pace
Not able to see the ranking on his uniform shirt,
With the soldier still holding the jar in his hand,
in his hands, he looked at all elements on the label.
this poisonous liquid boiled just above room
was drop some from a sealed can into the open hall,
He knew the Germans first thought of using
thirteen — and if they had, it would have been
But look at him now, the chemistry professor,
the bitter almond smell of Hydrogen Cyanide,
causing death from oxygen starvation.
breath, get in all the oxygen he could. He saw
back to the soldier to give him the empty can,
“one of the older Jews pleaded to me,
artillery battalion, we shot gas shells at the
my paperwork’s with my luggage—’ And they
And he knew in WWI we shot these shells into trenches
to commiserate with the soldier, but he knew
He was only a lieutenant, a lower-ranking attache
but he still held rank over this soldier, so he told
and they opened the doors to bring everyone
Then he walked away. At fifty metres he clutched
he wanted anything to calm him down and help #
He stood in the field, chain smoking, until
He looked at his pocket watch. Twenty minutes
toward him. He looked at the gas chamber
his methodical walk back to where he was
with a wave, and quickened his pace
this time, all waiting until the cloud of gas
He walked to the doorway. It was dark,
toward that small now closed centre vent.
tossed the babies and small children toward
One of the soldiers passed him as he stared,
“Nearly a year,” he answered. So he had to ask
The man only answered, “If you do something
With that, he nodded slightly, and knew #
Early the next morning, he came back to the offices
get his paperwork as quickly as possible, so he #
The tension knot grew smaller in his stomach
but as he came to his home, he saw his wife
Once he got out of the car, he could hear
with each gasp. He only wanted to hold her,
that she just used a pesticide fumigant
no longer breathe while inside those walls.
for the children, and she told him they were
And suddenly he imagined that fumigant
Hydrogen Cyanide was now in their home.
All she was trying to do was kill the vermin,
he now worked for, telling the nation to believe
So he looked at their home, and told her
as they possibly could. He then held her close
|
Hydrogen Cyanide edited
He was once a college chemistry professor, |
All rights reserved. No material
Copyright © Janet Kuypers.
may be reprinted without express permission.