[the Writing of Kuypers]    [JanetKuypers.com]    [Bio]    [Poems]    [Prose]


video See a YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Queens Rule(written 11/25, on and for the 1454 birthday of Catherine Cornaro, the Last Queen of Cyprus; d. 1510), “Expand and Save Yourselves(written 11/26, on and for the 1504 date of the death of Queen Isabella I of Castile), “Underground History(written 11/30, on and for the 1866 date work begins on the 1st U.S. underwater highway tunnel, in Chicago), “Your Burden(written 12/1, on and for the 1847 birthdate of the American poet Julia A. Moore; d1920), “Under Our Own Feet(written 12/2, on and for the 1942 date man achieved the 1st artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction), “Knew the Word(written 12/2, on and for the 1818 date Illinois became the 21st state of the United States of America), and “from Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet(written 11/4, on and for Wildlife Conservation Day), from the Janet Kuypers poetry book “Every Event of the Year (Volume Two: July-December)” for The Café Gallery 12/1/20 Book Reading in The Café Gallery 2020 book reading series (video from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypersthecafegallery
video See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Queens Rule”, “Expand and Save Yourselves”, “Underground History”, “Your Burden”, “Under Our Own Feet”, “Knew the Word”, AND “from Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet”, from the Janet Kuypers poetry book “Every Event of the Year (Volume Two: July-December)” for The Café Gallery 12/1/20 Book Reading in The Café Gallery 2020 book reading series (this video was filmed and streamed from a Samsung S9 camera). #janetkuypersthecafegallery
video See a YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Everyone Will React”, “brittle”, “Your Burden”, “Under Our Own Feet”, “Quiet as a Painting”, “Until all the Pieces Connect”, “Understand the Power”, “Usual Conquest Style”, “Exploit the Island”, and “Kiribati” from the v178 issue of the Down in the Dirt magazine 12/20 book “Spartacus” 12/2/20, during the usual time for Austin’s “Community Poetry” open mic (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera, and posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers
video See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Everyone Will React”, “brittle”, “Your Burden”, “Under Our Own Feet”, “Quiet as a Painting”, “Until all the Pieces Connect”, “Understand the Power”, “Usual Conquest Style”, “Exploit the Island”, and “Kiribati” from the v178 issue of the Down in the Dirt magazine 12/20 book “Spartacus” 12/2/20, during the usual time for Austin’s “Community Poetry” open mic (this video was filmed and streamed with a Samsung S9 camera). #janetkuypers
video See a YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Your Burden”, “Under Our Own Feet”, “Until all the Pieces Connect”, and “Quiet as a Painting” from the v178Spartacus” installment of the Down in the Dirt issue collection book “Late Frost” for The Café Gallery 2/2/21 Book Reading in The Café Gallery Book Reading series (from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera, and posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry   #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuypersthecafegallery
video See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Your Burden”, “Under Our Own Feet”, “Until all the Pieces Connect”, and “Quiet as a Painting” from the v178Spartacus” installment of the Down in the Dirt issue collection book “Late Frost” for The Café Gallery 2/2/21 Book Reading (streamed from a Samsung S9 camera). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuypersthecafegallery
video Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Under Our Own Feet”, “(from) Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet”, “Other Side”, “Ornaments from my Childhood”, “Knew the Word”, “Until I Get a Chance”, and “Original Sin and Unholy Ways” from the cc&d 12/21 v316 book “Man on the Street” 12/1/21 on the 1st Wednesday of the month from 1:00-3:00 PM CST during the usual time for the “Community Poetry” open mic (Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading
video Enjoy this Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Under Our Own Feet”, “(from) Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet”, “Other Side”, “Ornaments from my Childhood”, “Knew the Word”, “Until I Get a Chance”, and “Original Sin and Unholy Ways” from the cc&d 12/21 v316 book “Man on the Street” 12/1/21 on the 1st Wednesday of the month from 1:00-3:00 PM CST during the usual time for the “Community Poetry” open mic (this video was filmed & streamed from a Samsung S9 camera with a bubble filter). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading
video Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Under Our Own Feet”, “(from) Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet”, and “Knew the Word” from the Scars Publications cc&d magazine 12/21 v316 book “Man on the Street” to start the “Poetic License virtual open mic 12/5/21 she hosted through a Zoom meeting and a Facebook event page (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers janertkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuyperspoeticlicense
video Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Under Our Own Feet”, “(from) Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet”, and “Knew the Word” from the Scars Publications cc&d magazine 12/21 v316 book “Man on the Street” to start the “Poetic License virtual open mic 12/5/21 she hosted through a Zoom meeting and a Facebook event page (from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera with a Hue Cycling filter; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuyperspoeticlicense
video Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Under Our Own Feet”, “(from) Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet”, and “Knew the Word” from the Scars Publications cc&d magazine 12/21 v316 book “Man on the Street” to start the “Poetic License virtual open mic 12/5/21 she hosted through a Zoom meeting and a Facebook event page (filmed from a Samsung S9 camera with a color tear filter; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuyperspoeticlicense
video Enjoy this Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Under Our Own Feet”, “(from) Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet”, and “Knew the Word” from the Scars Publications cc&d magazine 12/21 v316 book “Man on the Street” to start the “Poetic License virtual open mic 12/5/21 she hosted through a Zoom meeting and a Facebook event page (this video was filmed & streamed from a Samsung S9 camera with a color tear filter; posted on Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuyperspoeticlicense
video Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Under Our Own Feet”, “(from) Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet”, “Other Side”, “Ornaments from my Childhood”, and “Knew the Word” from the 9-12/21 cc&d book “The World Outside” 5/4/22 on the 1st Wednesday of the month from 1:00-3:00 PM CST during the usual time for and in honor of the “Community Poetry” reading (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry
video Enjoy this Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Under Our Own Feet”, “(from) Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet”, “Other Side”, “Ornaments from my Childhood”, and “Knew the Word” from the 9-12/21 cc&d book “The World Outside” 5/4/22 on the 1st Wednesday of the month from 1:00-3:00 PM CST during the usual time for and in honor of the “Community Poetry” reading (video from a Samsung S9 camera with a b&w Old Film filter; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuypers

Under Our Own Feet

Janet Kuypers
12/2/19, the 1942 date man achieved the 1st
artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction

they decided to bring
this “Manhattan Project
to Chicago for the real work

a Metallurgical Lab made it
at the University of Chicago
under the west viewing stands of

Stagg Field, in experiments
led by Enrico Fermi, calling their
work “a crude pile of black bricks

and wooden timbers”* — but
as we all know, so much energy
can come from so little matter

so they used the sunken pit
that used to be a Rackets court
but now used it to smash more

than tennis balls to reach nuclear
criticality in their chain reaction —
in such a populated area, safely

for these were scientists
taking every step they could
to be sure nothing would go wrong

who even toasted from paper cups
with their shared bottle of Chianti
for a job well done

I’ve walked through
those forest preserves
even touched the marker

that commemorated
the world’s first nuclear reactor...
my colleague would ride his bike

along those trails,
until one week it was
chained off for “wildlife study”

though he knew
it was really for
radiation clean-up

I think of what we do
to ourselves, to the world,
and wonder how sometimes

the strangest events,
the strangest horrors,
and the strangest discoveries

may all be right
under our own feet,
and we don’t even know it

 

* Fermi, Enrico (December 1982). “Fermi’s Own Story”.


Copyright © Janet Kuypers.

All rights reserved. No material
may be reprinted without express permission.



Like Janet Kuypers’ writing on any of these links below:

Add to Twitter    Add to Facebook    Add to digg    Add to Del.icio.us    Add to Google Bookmarks    Add to Mister Wong    Add to reddit    Add to Stumble Upon    Add to Technorati









my hand to an anim of jkchair



Kuypers at Artvilla


scars publications


Kuypers writing