As a chemical engineer I know
The streamlines of fluid flow
The laws of mass and energy
And the reactions behind chemistry
Material balances begin the journey
Accounting mass even from chimney
Energy balances complete the basic design
The feasibility is ready to sign or resign
I admire the catalyst's art
Making slow reactions go fast
I control process with care
Keeping plant safe while flare.
Heat transfer helps conserve energy
And thermodynamics improving exergy
Mass Transfer improving separation
With high quality appreciation
Distillation, Mixing, and Reactors too,
Are essential tools for all I do.
From oil and gas to food and glass
Chemical engineers make products high class
From desalination to cleaner air
I engineer solutions everywhere
Protecting people, the land, and the ocean
Through safe chemical plant operation
And last but not the least
Economics is a major beast
No matter a chemical process large or small
Behind it chemical engineers stand tall
I would think? Its the stronger way to go..Buyers will always chase a good
Deal, and it negates more war damage
Just ' my feel ' thats what I would do, were
I Iran? $75 bucks a barrel, would be my plan ' Let market forces lead the way, a
Whole worlds economy.' Is whats at stake
I hear many pundits say.' Well let them
beat a path to Tehrans door' even if its overland as
Far as i last heard.? Basic sanity and maths ( have yet to be banned! )
Where am I?
Am I in the sky
Or in the ground
Certainly not, this, walking ‘round
Only dust left when gone
No such circuitry can perceive
The beauty of dawn
Or the glooming of eve
When the dust settles
Where have I gone
The dew upon the petals
Faerie Circles on the lawn
Something stirs in between
And remains for us, unseen
Not, will ever be found here
All here is dust, that much is clear
This place seems a shadow from high above
And no, I’m not going to say a place of love
Love keeps us happy to continue the charade
While somewhere something-
Plays with what it’s made
Did it count on us making the best of it
Enjoying each sunrise and its benefit
Discovering art, taking the world apart
Uncovering science
While it marveled our defiance
To not just be rats in its cage
But to evolve into cultures
That foresaw their futures
Still using wisdom as a workaround
And ingenuity to make life here more sound
Though I sometimes still wonder where I really am
Sometimes I don’t really think I give a damn
As long as I’m happy in this short dream
I’ll rave and I’ll laugh till I run out of steam
There’s no doubt about it, no escaping it;
Living in the material world.
Yet mind and body end up at odds about it,
What it is, what it requires, what it has to offer.
It’s a work in progress
For us all.
Work that doesn’t appear to have an end in sight.
But also work in a world
That appears to have it’s own path forward
Despite what we want and say and do.
Thus our own mind and body
Sometimes being at odds,
And of course in and with
The larger world of others
Who are each at odds within,
And without themselves…
But the material world for all its limitations
Is certainly accommodating,
Generous to the extreme
Tempting with potential fulfillment,
But always within limits.
This is how you train a soul after all.
You give them just enough
To meet their individual need
And require of them just a little bit more,
Continuously.
Always off balance, a little out of sorts,
They then are compelled to keep falling forward
And so eventually learn to walk.
The longest journey may begin
With a single step
But all that requires something
To stand upon,
At least with the illusion
Of solidity.
(10/15/25)
(“Something or Nothing”, 2024, original encaustic)
You can be my liquid lady
I will be your solid man
We can live a life of pleasure
Or at least the best we can.
Seize the day the poets tell us
Somehow that will make us whole
But the truth it lies within us
There reveals our sacred soul.
(9/21/25)
Little trinket gather on her nightstand.
Each holding powerful memories.
The cowbell decorated with colors,
from her once so dear football team.
It's always been louder than others,
showing through with a prideful beam.
The hand painted rock,
with the sun and white fluffed clouds,
serves as a key to a lock,
to a time her voice was outspoken and loud.
The blue rubber duck,
a dear friend gifted.
It reminds her of her luck,
because she couldn't have had a friend more fitted.
The small rubber bracelet, that a group had
made. She wishes to see them again.
The small doll with a big heart,
a pass love had given her.
She apologizes every night.
she holds these memories close,
For they are so dear to her heart.
She dreams with them near,
and she has no fears.
Be you ~
I'm not going to tell you what to do.
You're on your own ~ be creative
to care enough to find ways to please me,
to care enough to be...
to care...
yes...
I think that's the key word.
I want you to care.
About me.
About us.
I want you to
be in the moment,
be in the relationship,
be in the driver's seat.
Contribute
not just sit back and wait for cues.
You're not just along for the ride.
Be...
Care...
Be on top of your game.
Act like you care.
Give it all you've got
without holding back.
Like this is the real thing.
Like you want this to work.
Like you want this to be special.
Be consistent.
Consistently caring loving attentive.
Don't deviate from the script.
Love me like you mean it.
AP: 1st place 2025, Honorable Mention 2026
Sadly, only the heart does not always do,
you need the strength of the money too.
Money makes the world go round,
only fools would say that it is not true.
But the actions of the heart with money
those are the only stories that achieve glory,
a tale the people will tell more excitedly to you.
***************************************
If I talk, it creates a mess !
It's the fault of the poetic heart, I guess.
Poetry in the material world
pokes the consciousness
and put the material minds in distress.
(13.07.2025)
Another chapter in my life
over much too soon
when there's so much more to live
it's just not opportune
but is Anonymous the author
or would it be myself possibly
writing this tale so true
could it be an autobiography
and yet I won't be put on hold
my one and only guarantee
tho' late won't be overdue
when it's check out time for me
for on turning a page today
I came to realise and to clarify
I'm living a story in a book on loan
from the Great Library in the Sky
The Spiritual/Material Nexus is Biology and its material antithetical responses to "The Laws of Nature".
That process is fundamentally "Cooperative"; a symbiosis based on "Trust".
The successful Social Organism, "Civilization", operates the same way.
President Trump never speaks "The Truth".
A "Faithless" Government is a failure calling for immediate remediation or abolition to safeguard our Individual values.
.
I was first picked up
In a cast-off shop in Liverpool;
Surrounded by racks of seasoned shirts
Bearing names of old soldiers.
“Draper” draped on an immature frame
In a collage of brown and green,
Overlapping and enveloping
Any semblance of a past self.
Baby-faced and militant,
The paradoxical camo in an urban warzone.
Slogans painted from shoulder to shoulder
In pungent, nuclear-white bathroom paint.
The smell is burned to memory,
Singeing nose hairs with chemical vigour,
Of dance-generated sweat, upturned pints,
A lover’s aftershave, the sting of cigarette smoke.
Washed once, maybe twice,
But anxious eyes watched the spin cycle,
Fearing specks of dislodged paint
Covering my muddy canvas.
Now “Draper” drapes a matured frame,
The only scent that lingers is
The petrichor of Northern summer
Tie-dyed deep into my fibres.
I bare a name that isn’t mine,
Memories of a life I did not live,
Scars from battles I never saw,
And honours that aren’t mine to claim.
We are shadows
living the dark
of our own
obstructions
imitators of light
worshiping furnaces
cores of stars
hydrogen eaters
helium floaters
casting nets
into a sea of glitter
our daily catch
of expiring illumination
traveling ever further out
away from man's indwelling
brilliance
that of a Sacred Heart
Everything roundabout and under the sun has its season.
All occurrences, whether good or evil, happens for a reason.
No man can transfigure the future, nor venture back into the past.
‘Tis wasted energy to cherish brick and mortar that will not last.
To what end comes all that man has made but returns to dust?
His monuments, his skyscrapers, and towers all shall turn to rust.
What comes of silver, gold, rubies, and other such riches?
What value are these material things which are found in ditches?
To what end come, men of power, living in castles in the sky?
No different than one, who toils in the fields, all are destined to die.
This life is much like a candle, flickering in the night.
Some cause calamity, some illuminates, and then suddenly fade from sight.
And what of the driving force that propels this mass?
Is it an entity that continues on, or does it fade and whither as a blade of grass?
Always, there will be trials, tribulations, troubles, and strife.
Different paths to venture down, during this event called life.
You-
Yes, you.
Do ya know whatcha do
Preventing me from spreadin’ my wings?
I’m not a Barbie girl
In this material world
I don’t follow no false kings.
But these mad boys
Bad boys
Leave me feeling like a toy
To destroy
Hate
And manipulate.
Am I worth it
Imperfect
Should I come as I may
Is this all meant to be?
Wife material
"We are looking for wife material right now," he says
I laugh a little
"Yeah, wife material," he seconds
I laugh bemused and look at them both ironically
He pulls me by my jersey
He makes me stand in front him
And starts pinning my buttons from up to bottom
"What wife material?" I ask
"Somebody who can do the dishes," he says
"Somebody who does not need to be told things," he seconds
"Somebody who doesn't wait around all day to be served," he says.
I laugh, "it's not like you are going to marry soon."
"Well he is all grown up," I am told
"I think he needs 5 years plus," I retort
"No I don't," he tells me
"By end of this year I will be married," he says
I laugh
"Who knows, I might impregnate you," he says
"Excuse me; impregnate who?" I retort
"Doctor, doctor she refuses to be impregnated by you," someone says whilst laughing
We all laugh
I get served lunch
As we start cleaning up,
I can't help but keep laughing,
'Wife material'
What the hell does that mean
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