Scientist Atop Mountain
I stood at the top of the mountain
Giddy, grinning— panting like a fiend
And thought of O2 sat.,
Allostery,
Polyporphyrin rings
And, in time, I thought of bottomlessness,
Half-filled glasses
Stars exploding through the ineffable blackness
And thought, underneath it all,
What’s the vastness even mean?
I began climbing slowly down from the ego of my dream
And asked
What for?
Nothing more
But a flag stuck in the ground?
To calculatingly defy gravity
As it mercilessly tugs us down?
And then I wondered, ponderously:
Am I a prophet
Or a god?
Is there a defined mind to our brain?
Dimension to our façade?
A man behind the curtain?
A voice within the sky?
An ultimate time and place?
An adequate answer to “why?”
I sat on the mountain, tortured
Like the archetypally wise
And knew then that all life’s purpose
Had been imparted through desperate lies.
--
Note to those not familiar with Biochemistry:
The first stanza refers to hemoglobin's decrease in oxygen affinity in response to high altitude/ low atmospheric pressure. This is accomplished through the molecule's allosteric conformation change. Hemoglobin's molecular structure consists of a porphyrin ring.
Copyright © Jessica Vh | Year Posted 2014
Post Comments
Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.
Please
Login
to post a comment