atomic numbers we played candyland with the periodic table of elementsyou slid down to 79 AUaustralia? you asked, packing your bags

gold, i respond,a ring i slid across your fingerprecious metal for your circuit boards

then we climbed 73 stepsand you were six againpointing at monkeysfeeding the penguinsall the carbon life formsheld in the artificial zoo

next we rolled an eighty-fourhurried down to 88to the city hospitaland held hands as radium-223 alpha particles

battled the cancersnaking around my great-uncle’s prostratepenetrated deep into his frail bones

as the luminous paints in his bedside clockblinked 2:26

we trekked to cobalt to cobble alloysfor the jet engine thatwe took to the farthest squareput on our masks and suitsand breathed the filtered air

oganesson decayed around usthe fringes of our known elementsbulk of protons and neutronsthe costco of particlesmass clump like a brainformidable CXVIII

as we returnedwe thought about our livesthe Ag in our cupboards

1

plates and bowlsforks and spoonsdishes and suppersfrom the accumulation of years

as we glide by iodinethe photographic film revealsour 53 myriad poses, your victory signas you ruffle my hairmy arm clasped around your waist

to atomic number 10when we first metyou were biting on a cigarettesearching for matchesin front of a dump of a club

i offered you a light

then you released from your lipsa ringed puff, dissipatedwisped up towardsthe glow of the red signneon

with the letter R blinkingso sometimes twisted script read COSMIC HEA Tand sometimes it read COSMIC HEART

the luminous rouge of the signflickeringreflected in your eyesin your ruddy cheeks

it was cold

i shivered looking into the skythinking how could something so prevalent in the universebe so rare on eartha noble gasyour noble chin

—D.A. Xiaolin Spires