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Cadmium Janet Kuypers from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series (#048, Cd) (stemming from “You’ve Already Paid for This”, written 09/14/09) 3/28/13 The battered woman entered the all-night gas station/grocery store. The attendant sees the man waiting in the car. He looks tense and angry. The attendant looks at the woman. “Marlboros,” is all she said. The attendant glances at the car, then looks at the rows of cigarettes over the counter. The woman says, “it’s for my husband.” The attendant asks, “Which kind?” The woman absent-mindedly says “Red.” The attendant reaches for the package. The attendant thinks that even though there is more of the poisonous Cadmium in the food we eat, the Cadmium’s easily absorbed when you breathe it in through these smokes. Studies have even found links between Cadmium and cancer, the attendant thinks. So the attendant looks at the woman hands her the cancer sticks, and thinks, “you’ve probably already paid for this.” Even though Cadmium is used for pigments, or nickel Cadmium batteries, smokers get four to five times more Cadmium in their blood, and two to three times more Cadmium in their kidneys. The woman closes her purse. The attendant closes the register. Give it time, was all the attendant thought as the woman left.

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