Lifegiver

Light
is
both electromagnetic wave and particle

A split persona

We are bathed in gifts from the Sun
photons, neutrinos – all matter of stuff

(and stuff is all matter)

Light
burns and blinds – damages DNA

A shining killer

Our atmosphere and magnetosphere shield us
partially

Oh those Northern Lights……….

Light
is the root of biology

In the heart of every leaf toils a circle of reactions
that turn light into a shining fountain of sugar
again and again and again

Without these all life is gone

Light

Copyright © 2022 Kim Whysall-Hammond

Sarah is hosting at dVerse tonight and it’s all about light. Come and join in!

Science and Science Fiction poetry: We are the Robots

Wetware software hardware
how hard do we have to be?
Programmed by the stochastic chatter of evolution
form fitting function,
almost.

Self replicating semi-autonomous robots.
purposed by deoxyribonucleic acid,
the software exists to
protect itself
not us.

Copyright © 2019 Kim Whysall-Hammond

Today is Science and SF Monday — A poem each week which either has a science theme or is Science Fiction…..

Old Telescope

Poor lost instrument, trapped in your tower
where the dome never opens from year to year.
They no longer use you to search the heavens.
Battered and bruised, missing parts,
you lurk in the darkness of your cage.
If only I could find glass plates,
unwrap them in the dark open the dome
set you free.

Copyright © 2016 Kim Whysall-Hammond

Science and Science Fiction poetry: Green

Green rumbles rambles rolls and ripples
in all its shades and hues
rustles murmurs sways and drifts
floats on and under the waters of both
chill chalk stream and ocean
surfaces the land
spawns and augments tall trees
defines jungles, swamps, farmland
cools and shades, feeds and shelters
sparkled with daisies
strewn with buttercups
cut red with poppy wounds

Green is waste light reflected back from leaves
by the quantum machine of photosynthesis
that powers all life

Copyright © 2019 Kim Whysall-Hammond

‘Green’ was first published in the Environs issue of Snakeskin:  http://www.snakeskinpoetry.co.uk/snake264.html

Mondays are Science and SF Mondays!

A poem each week which either has a science theme or is Science Fiction….

Science and Science Fiction poetry: The Shape of Rain

I am a rain drop.

Imagine raindrops
you see tears
but clouds do not cry.
Over England they excrete
ice crystals that melt
drop and tumble
balling, falling.
Surface tension
marries colliding drops
yet divorce is common.
Plummeting, flattening
rain discs hit the London pavement
lose their identity
in puddles and pools.

Copyright © 2018 Kim Whysall-Hammond

The Shape of Rain was first published at  https://fourthandsycamore.wordpress.com/2018/07/05/the-poetry-of-kim-whysall-hammond/

Mondays are Science and SF Mondays! A poem each week which either has a science theme or is Science Fiction…..

Science and Science Fiction poetry: Rocks

Unimaginably ancient, preserving moments in time;
billion year old pebbles from unknown floods
bones fallen into an ancient abyss
ten thousand year old footprints along an English estuary.
Sitting on a rock, you touch time.

Rocks move. They melt and set, erode to dust
and then the dust settles
forms new rock over time almost unimaginable.
This undulating plain formed at great depths
was thrust up to mountainous heights
now lies placid for your walking comfort.

Go find a rock
and travel in time and space.

Copyright © 2018 Kim Whysall-Hammond

Today is Science and SF Monday — A poem each week which either has a science theme or is Science Fiction…..

Biome

We too are worlds
we live with a shimmer of species
our own biome

Fungi, bacteria, in their billions
live on our skin, our hair, and
in our folded writhing gut

Many species of microscopic mites
thrive in the pores of your face
tiny unseen spiders ride us from home to home

The deadly game of predator and prey
plays out across and within you
whether you are awake or sleeping

Kissing a loved one does not just give affection
but transfers life of many different sorts
from your lips to their cheek

Copyright © 2022 Kim Whysall-Hammond

Weather Forecaster

On the graveyard shift, we chase weather
parse our charts, work the numbers
issue warnings, brief pilots
wait for our relief to turn up
and then that blessed walk outside
into whatever we had been predicting

Copyright © 2021 Kim Whysall-Hammond

For just over one month many years ago, I worked shifts as a Weather Forecaster at Birmingham Airport…..

Mountains of the Moon

Their high mass tears at
pierces a pale sky
pulls at the high oranges
stealing it for their icy peaks.
As the mother planet rises,
methane snows glint
like golden  crowns.

Copyright © 2019 Kim Whysall-Hammond

‘Mountains of the Moon’ was first published by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Associations print journal Star*Line, October 2019

Telescope

Lurking in a distant corner
That darkly reflective black tube
Of outsize length
Adorned with intricate knobs
And several precise gauges
Alien amongst our bright furnishings

Held tight by many adjustable clamps
It perches on a tall chromed tripod
Close to the door, angled , straining to escape
To collect starlight in its hidden mirrors once again
But now capped and dusty
Ornamental more than used

Copyright © 2020 Kim Whysall-Hammond

I really need to use my Telescope more often!