Clements, Mark A.

Digital Commons @ Butler University

ManuscriptsTo Illustrate a PointTake, for example, a test tube; its long bodyStraightening up for science, the tight curve of its bottomUnder lab lights, and the slender clarity with whichIt conducts itself in all matters. It knows nothingBut the utmost propriety and etiquette,The need to be exact, dutiful without question,Devoted. And yet it is infinitely happyTo be a test tube, flaunting simple graces,Its struggle, the feminine struggle:How to be recognized as bothspirit and intellect, ratherthan as an object of beauty?Then take Dr. Kornberg of the Nobel,Biochemist, who tunes in to the worldOf DNA and enzymes, listening for the voices.Who loves the test tube, who asks it dailyTo hold in its womb those fantastic concoctionsOf Dr. Kornberg. His large handsMove across its surface at play, a slight shakeOr a swirl, and its insides begin to dance ...No more doctor, no more doctor! whatever it is,It is growing inside me and r can't take it, the electricity,The populations of enzymes going to work at last,Like so many migrant workers on the railroad,Laying down tiny tracks, one molecule at a time.Where does it lead, where does it lead? Is thisWhat they caIl the Westward expansion, doctor?I can see them bringing in the railroad tiesOne by one, the sweat on their browsTheir Latino smiles. A group of ChineseAre driving in the spikes; the IrishAre resting. I think they are singing, doctor,Can you hear them?58Spring 1993"Quiet now, quiet," says Dr. Kornberg."No chit-chat during the experiment;I am trying to hear what they are saying."In a moment, the scientistHolds the test tube closer, gently strokesThe long back and whispers to it,Half expecting the thing to smile.Cups his hand over the mouth of the test tube,And inverts it, admiring the vessel from every angle.Such objects, crafted with technological perfection,Make the good doctor feel young again! The river inside himBegins to flow, and the girlsWith their soft cheeks from high school, and the young noses,Return to him as pictures, voiceless, attractive.His memory begins to moisten.But doctor, your experiment... the enzymes ...They have chosen a leader and are organizing.I think that they are dissatisfied. Is thisHow you will be remembered, doctor?As being unconcerned with employee welfare?But those young girls, suspended there in his imagination,So far away now, and discussing politics in the cafesOf New York. Not the way he remembers them,As figures with bright smiles and shine,Their posture, and if you could only touch them,Then the thrill of discovery. Not like here,In a micro-world, where Dr. Kornberg, his scientific mind,Calculates and contains himself, remembering at the endOf each work day, to close the mouth of his test tubesWith a tight cap, and place them on the storage rack,Like so many objects of his affection.Mark A Clements59

To Illustrate a Point

http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3929&context=manuscripts

To Illustrate a Point

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Digital Commons @ Butler University