Laboratory*

Illustration by holdentrils from pixabay.com (I know, but no relation…!)

Each act of love
is experiment
of testing tube
and merry-I-ment

Hydrogen bonds
chemicals mark
acids bases
fly light, play dark

The gas is there
vacuum, water
electric air
Bunsen’s hotter

Stimulate drip
break a beaker
extinguish flame…
still, you seek her.

• This poem was written in collaboration with author Linda Heart for the book Mrs. Velvet and the Blue String Theory, one of the most unusual books in all the world. It’s protagonist, Gabriella, is third in succession behind the Alice of Alice in Wonderland, and Dorothy of The Wizard of Oz in terms of young girls who go down like Alice, up like Dorothy, and out like Gabriella in their exploration of reality as it is experienced by humans.