there are elements
that are not on
the periodic table

I built a world from these
but their properties
were impossible
to reconcile

the atoms loosened
and my world fell apart
beneath my feet

I was the wrong scientist
for the job
I was as foolish
as an alchemist who doesn’t know
that there’s no gold to be had
that doesn’t start with gold

and now I’ve become unstable
what spins off of me
leaves me charged
I am glowing in the dark
a poison candle

decay
half-life
every term of this art
tells my story

if I had been more careful
I would have started with carbon
and tin

but the elements I chose to use
were so
impossible
they were crying out
to be treated as real

so I did
and I did not succeed
but what came after

was a kind of success
as a scientist can always claim
that every failure teaches
something