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Gibbs Free Energy

I am teetering at the brim of progress 
The self I spend to be of worth
Is the same self that I had to earn

And to what end? 
I ask,
At what fee?
The ones that stand down do so for free 

And all that’s left is work for me
(Fr , 

         PdV)

I hauled up, masochistic Sisyphus  
All they did was balk
Scatter, Jack and Jill   
Emptily talk 
About how hard, how far
Never
I could not

And then for an instant I was on top

[King parenthetical]

They stood with their calculators
Screaming

But negative RTlnKeq ???
Kb T times ln W   ???
Enthalpy minus T entropy,
Gives us the standard energy ???

I saw the people finally sap
It was halfway forward to halfway back

I felt something snap

And I fell unfathomably far 
To a different bottom
A different problem

I stood intermediate at the foot of the unknown
Before a taller peak to dethrone

--
Note: Gibbs Free Energy (delta G) is a thermodynamic parameter used to describe reactions and stability in chemistry. It is common to see a diagram of delta G vs. reaction progress. These free energy diagrams consist of continuous curves with peaks and troughs. The lower the energy, the more stable. 

Unfortunately you have to have significant background knowledge in chemistry to understand every reference.

Copyright © Jessica Vh | Year Posted 2014

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Jessica Vh Date: 10/17/2014 8:52:00 PM I think the most esoteric bit is [king parenthetical] In a reaction, molecules encounter a transition state, which is the highest in energy and thus at the top of the hill in the free energy diagram. It is very short lived and denoted with brackets. During the transition, bonds are broken ("I heard something snap") and are reformed. Then it "falls" in-between hills to what's called the "intermediate," which can be lower in energy than the reactants. The teacher in me could not resist. Login to Reply

Maurice Yvonne Date: 10/17/2014 8:21:00 PM I Love this poem...a lot!!!! Login to Reply

Maurice Yvonne Date: 10/17/2014 8:18:00 PM No matter what mystery lies in your poetry that is up to the reader to discover. Google the best poetry in the last 20 years. You will see that some of the lists includes poetry almost impossible to understand. You must write what you know. Find the style or styles you are comfortable with and then just write. As long as you understand it as long as it sings to you...you are too intelligent to conform to the masses. Be the best you, you can be and your poetry will fly. Login to Reply Jessica Vh Date: 10/17/2014 8:28:00 PM Haha, thank you. It was fun to write this. This is a topic I was tutoring recently. I'm glad you like it!