Destruction Derby
Dark shapes in the pit,            on their bellies, on bended knee in machine gore and shop light, praying,                                                coaxing and cursing a last turnover, last fire from the cylinders, straining                                    after notes of metal-on-metal, engines testifying to the dirt. They are not beautiful— sweat-coated, beer-soaked.
In the ring, it is time,                            distance between ignition and impact,                        steady excision of mercy from each hit. It is the ways to survival, the last round. To be the one driving out, despite                        unlubricated gears and engine fires,                                                to space on the winner’s trophy. How those stalled in the mud will be winched free                         and hauled to the scrap heap,
                       to the seasons and rust.
On Refinement
For company, the desired affect is yellowcake, petit fours, princess cut. But first                        there is pitchblende kimberlite matrix            the quartz body to be reckoned.
One must carefully consider                      bath composition: rhodium  musk  lilac  alkali.  Tin-tub or in-situ, firelight being a matter of flint and tinder.                                    So, too, considerations of the amalgamation process— whither the life            in last year’s stockings, cut and drift            at the elbows, sump settings. Anisotropic pressures, questions of how one best achieves the desired levels                                                            of irradiation.
And now, progress. Arrive            at matters of the first water, country of origin, sodium light                 & fire    now equally the product of crown height, angle, interplay of facets across the pavilion,                        polish and symmetry.
Zayne Turner grew up in the rural High Desert of Oregon. She is the author of the chapbook Memory of My Mouth, available from dancing girl press. Her work can be found online in places like Ancora Imparo, Coldfront, or Poecology, and her virtual workspace: zayne.posterous.com.
Yellow cake uranium photo courtesy Shutterstock.
