Poetry and poësie

Photographic by De Waal Venter

Dealing with different types of water

I saw
a water molecule.
I think it had
a blue-green sheen,
but that depends on
the instrument or organ
you use to perceive it.

The two oxygen atoms
slipped around the hydrogen core
in an unpredictable way;
now close together
and then at opposite sides.
It made me think of sea otters
frisking about underneath the ultramarine and white surface
of an arctic sea.

There was more than one molecule.
Behind me, all around, in fact.
They weren’t touching,
so I estimated the temperature
to be above zero,
about halfway to boiling point.

I got closer to the molecule
and touched it.
My hand met resistance
and sank some distance
into the bluish fuzz
before it was stopped;
it tingled rather electrically.

I withdrew my hand
and noticed that the molecules
had drawn slightly closer together –
the temperature was falling.

It was quite exhausting
to deal with water molecules
on a one-to-one basis.
So I decided to switch my perception to en masse -
lots and lots of them,
mixed with a rich collection
of very complicated organic compounds:
Chardonnay, in fact.