Imbibition
Karen Cloete
Red, green, yellow
Kaleidoscope of shades
Colouring the valleys of vine
Drinking the rays of the sun
Mixing circularity with sustenance
Growing a new technology
Red, green, yellow
Jive, jingle, intermingle
Mineral, chemical, with botanical
And in the vial, with trial and error
Rarer compounds bathe
In nanodust colour
Red, green, yellow
Dusting the resurging seed
Busting into pores, to explore, to metabolize
Regenerating vitality, biology
New nano-agro-innovation?
A modern mate for a different climate?
The Science
The title, ‘Imbibition’, refers to the uptake of water by a seed and, in relation to this poem, the application and uptake of nanofertilizers presenting as a new agronanotechnology to promote germination and plant vitality. The poem is generally inspired by the branch of science and engineering, nanotechnology and nanosciences, and more specifically agronanotechnology, which fuses the disciplines of agriculture, plant physiology, biology, and chemistry to study the bioengineering of nanofertilizers using vine leaves as a starting material and their agricultural applications. To address the challenges that the agricultural sector is currently facing due to climate change, anthropogenic pollution, and the low nutrient use efficiency of traditional fertilizers, nanofertilizers present as a revolutionary innovation to boost crop performance for sustainable agricultural practices.
The Poet
Karen Cloete is a senior scientist affiliated to the UNESCO-UNISA Africa Chair in Nanosciences & Nanotechnology Laboratories and Nanosciences African Network at the University of South Africa and the iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences- National Research Foundation, a Global Young Academy member, World Associations for Young Scientists member, past South African Young Academy of Science co-chair, and World Economic Forum Young Scientist alumnus. She lives in Cape Town, South Africa. As well as her interest in using poetry as a colourful science communication tool, she has an interest in biology, accelerator based sciences, and nanosciences. Her poetry has appeared on the All Poetry website.
Next poem: mother by Cassandra Higgins