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Osmium #076 edited for the “Poetry Saloon at Noon” feature at the Chicago Cultural Center /30/13 Janet Kuypers from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series Hearing the word “Osmium” (and not knowing what it meant), all I could think of was the Osmonds, then I had this crazy 1970s flashback to watching the Donny and Marie Osmond show... When I was little, I even had the Donny and Marie Barbie-styled dolls and play set, with a stage for them for singing. They had microphones — and this is the best part — the Donny and Marie dolls had holes through their hands so microphones could snap into their little hands. (If only these holes leaked blood, so the Donny and Marie stigmata would be complete.) The Donny and Marie dolls must have had the stigmata so they could have that strong bond with the microphone, like their strong Osmond family bond. ‘Cause I’m sure a family bond is harder than anything. And no, I didn’t know what “Osmium” was, but Osmium is actually a blue-gray to black metal, and it’s actually the densest metal in the Periodic Table. And you know, I’ve got a medical bracelet I have to wear all the time... If my medical bracelet was made out of Osmium it would probably last forever... But then again, Osmium’s probably too brittle to shape into a bracelet. So I’m sure they use Osmium in applications where durability and hardness are needed, like in things like fountain pen nibs, or repetitive electrical contacts. Osmium’s actually the least abundant element on this planet... So it makes sense that it’s only used in such small amounts when minute, exacting things need to last. And when it comes to the minute, Osmium can also be used for fingerprint detection, and it can even stain fatty tissue for optical and electron microscopy. So, maybe if something as dense and hard as Osmium is actually quite rare here, we can grow quite a strong bond to it, even if we only use it in such small amounts because it will help our lives become that much stronger.

Watch the YouTube video of this Kuypers reading the poem live 1/26/13 on Chicago’s WZRD 88.3 FM radio (Canon), with music from the HA!Man of South Africa (2011 Hotel music “the Ice is Melting”)

See YouTube video 1/26/13 of Kuypers reading 8 Periodic Table poems (including this poem) on Chicago’s WZRD 88.3 FM radio (Canon), with the HA!Man of South Africa’s 2011 Hotel music the Ice is Melting playing

See YouTube video 1/26/13 of Kuypers reading 8 Periodic Table poems (including this poem) on Chicago’s WZRD 88.3 FM radio (Samsung), with the HA!Man of South Africa’s 2011 Hotel music the Ice is Melting playing

Watch this YouTube video of this “Periodic Table of Poetry” poem read live in Chicago 1/30/13 (Canon) at her feature Poetry Saloon at Noon

See YouTube video of Kuypers reading her “Periodic Table” poems, including this one, live in her Chicago 1/30/13 feature Poetry Saloon at Noon, with background music from the HA!Man of South Africa’ “Wayward Waltz of the Fractured Wind”

Download this poem in the free chapbook the Poetry Saloon at Noon, w/ the Periodic Table of Poetry poems chapbook of poems in this show.

Osmium Janet Kuypers from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series started 9/7/12, completed 9/13/12 Hearing the word “Osmium” recently (and not knowing what the word means), the only thing that popped into my head was the Osmonds, Then I had this crazy 1970s flashback to watching the Donny and Marie Osmond show, her singing “I’m a Little Bit Country” and him singing “I’m a Little Bit Rock ‘n Roll” (and listening to that ‘70s song now, you’d swear that Donny Osmond has no Motown in his soul)... But when I was little, I even had the Donny and Marie Barbie-styled dolls and play set, which even had a stage where they could sing — they had microphones — and this is the best part — the Donny and Marie dolls had holes through their hands (if only these holes leaked blood, so the Donny and Marie stigmata was complete) so microphones could lock into their hands. I guess Donny and Marie dolls had the stigmata so they could have that strong bond with the microphone, like their strong Osmond family bond. Because I’m sure a family bond is harder than anything. And no, I didn’t know what “Osmium” was, but Osmium is a blue-gray to blue-black transition metal, and as far as elements go, it’s actually the densest hard transition metal in the platinum family, that actually remains lustrous, even at higher temperatures. And you know, I’ve got a medical bracelet I have to wear all the time... If my medical bracelet was made out of Osmium it would probably last forever and look really cool too... But then again, because it’s so dense and so hard, it’s probably too brittle to shape into a bracelet. But I’m sure they use Osmium in applications where durability and hardness are needed, like in the constant varying pressure in fountain pen nibs, or very repetitive and exacting electrical contacts. And the other thing that’s a bummer about the densest element in the Periodic Table is that Osmium is actually the least abundant element in the earth’s crust... So I guess it makes sense that since it’s only obtained during copper and nickel mining, it would probably be used for such small objects like fountain pen nibs and electrical circuitry when these minute things need to last. And yeah, the thing is, Osmium can also be used for fingerprint detection, and it can even stain fatty tissue for optical and electron microscopy. So it’s excellent-cool that Osmium can also be used on a microscopic level like that to help us out so much too... So, maybe if something as dense and hard as Osmium is actually quite rare here, it’s a good thing we’ve learned to utilize such small amounts of this dense element for so many things to help us out so much in life.

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