There’s an entire continent
In that peeling nail polish
The world’s entropic dance
Can’t help but make art of destruction
Disintegrating, devolving, dissociating,
Towards a state of inert uniformity
Carving patinaed edges
Forming tactile depressions for transduction
In the living mind
Electrochemical impulses traversing, stimulating, releasing
This is at the core, the throbbing center
Where a membrane of such fragile tenderness
Demarcates life from the inanimate
Circumscribed within vigorous life fights
To exchange, order, devour, enhance, commune
The universal forces destroy
With guileless, uncostly effort
To reductionistic perfection
Life consumes to build
Glory resides in a state of uniform inconsistency
Each inimitable, nonpareil, extraordinary cell
Is a magnanimous, unprecedented, capricious impulse
Toward life
Chromapoetica 
This is at the core, the throbbing center
Where a membrane of such fragile tenderness
Demarcates life from the inanimate
Circumscribed within vigorous life fights
this is very good.
I cannot seem to keep up with all your posts.
very awesome stuff happening here.
in fact I just read that again…I wish I had written that part there so bad…ooo.
Thanks, I wrote it this morning. I will make a trip to see what you’ve been writing!
okay, but it is weird…weird stuff.
Something about this reminds me of Wallace Stevens’ bit about the poem resisting reality almost successfully, “a violence within” confronting “a violence from without.” If the natural “order” is that of “Disintegrating, devolving, dissociating,/Towards a state of inert uniformity” – the grand entropic dance — then the survival mode of life, the cellular impulse upon which our mortal being is founded — is then “a magnanimous, unprecedented, capricious impulse” to exist, opus contra naturuum, despite the ridiculous celestial odds against such survival, much less existence. Is the “constitutive defensible line,” then, a heaving of a wall of water against the wall of fire? Or is it essentially a war of sames? Very stimulating thought. The cognition here reminds me somewhat of of A.R. Ammons’ “Garbage”, about the florid life that builds up inside all we throw away.
A book length epic on trash, as the author states ‘a scientific poem’ is right up my alley, I have a fascination with detritivores/detritophages. I’ll have to read that. I am still working on a poem set on a battlefield from their perspective.
The constitutive defensible line comes from a combination of cell biology and ecology. In ecology a constitutive defense is one that is always active. It touches on another one of my favorite concepts, the permeability of membranes. I loved its possibility for multivalent meaning. Thanks for engaging and the book suggestion!
There are a lot of great lines in this; I love how you incorporate the language of science into it so naturally. For me, the first and last verses really stood out as especially strong.
“There’s an entire continent
In that peeling nail polish…”
–what a great opening line!
My degree is in Biology with an emphasis on Environmental Studies and I love bending the rich language of science to the purposes of poetry. I’m so happy you found it seamless. Thank you for your feedback.
It never ceases to amaze me what people write poetry about. Not having poetry in my life before last October, I was only vaguely familiar with mushy poems, you-done-me-wrong poems, and the tortuously impossible-to-understand poems I had to read in college through in college that convinced me that I hated poetry. I would never have thought to write a poem about cell membranes, although,now that I think about it, there are possibilities for great metaphors in it. fun! hugs, pat
This is really outstanding. I love “reductionistic perfection.”
Thank you, I love the specificity of language and science is a cornucopia of highly specialized words that are great fun to play with.
Thank you for joining Poets United. We look forward to visiting your blog and reading poetry. We also look forward to seeing you in our community.
Ink runs from the corners of my mouth
There is no happiness like mine.
I have been eating poetry.
~Mark Strand
Very strong piece with so much conviction. nice work
Thank you. Yes, I’m full of convictions!
Your word usage is a bit over the head of this Texas redneck, but I understand enough of it to know it is good writing. Very good!
Thank you for sticking with the piece and your feedback.
Well crafted, with strong imagery, very nice!
“life consumes to build”
my favorite line. 🙂
The destruction cradled in creation and naught to be done about it but build some more.
Nicely done, and the blending of terminology and creative flow is fantastic
Thank you, I strive for seamlessness.
sad, powerful highlight of deconstructions of nature and life…
Thank you, I enjoyed your poem as well.
Excellent piece well penned, I enjoyed this very much 🙂
Thank you, I look forward to reading your contribution.
The opening line grabbed me in, nice thoughts, I enjoyed uniform inconsistency, ha!!! lol
enjoy the potluck!!
http://lynnaima.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/indifferent/
A lot of great lines but I especially liked “Glory resides in a state of uniform inconsistency,”
Excellent poem.
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it.
The poet and the scientist converge here. Well done, Anna. I like the ebb and flow the ultimate impulse toward life, which always is evident even in decay.
Thanks Jamie, I’m glad you stopped by. I just subscribed to your blog. Thank you again for the interview!