Chorus for the Cicada

Science

Cicada wings are covered in microscopic spines called "nanopillars" which impale bacteria and fungi spores. Scientists are engineering antimicrobial surfaces based on these nanopillars, as they provide a physical rather than chemical method for killing pathogens. The title of this piece acknowledges the paper which inspired it, "Antibacterial effects of nanopillar surfaces are mediated by cell impedance, penetration and induction of oxidative stress" by Jenkins et al. (2020).

Method

This piece is 8.5 x 11 inches and was outlined using micron pens.

Bio

Mulan Pan is a student at Pomona College in California, and enjoys creating art that showcases all the wonders of the world, from mythology to astronomy to entomology. Her work has been recognized by YoungArts and Scholastic Art and Writing, as well as The Cloudscent Journal. She believes that every scientific paper is concealing a poem.

Poem

Chorus for the Cicada (Jenkins et al., 2020) After the discovery of nanoscopic protrusions on cicada

wings, giving them antibacterial properties.

on your wings are pillars nature’s

architect carved corinthian

sculpting hallowed grounds

into sepulchers

a battlefield billions strewn

cilia spines cytoplasm

empires of viscera

are these unicellular screams a

hymn fugue or symphony

a few cents too sharp

you and your brethren yearn for orchestra but

tymbals & cymbals

are sundering instruments

of war

         as the air      kisses      the space

between your sacrificial altars

with every futile frantic

flap

I will worship your fractured faith

like an archeologist unearthing bones

filaments

my fingerprints dusting your temples with gold

ineffable artifacts of a fallen god

made to sing once more under the microscope

beneath these laboratory

lights you are rebuilt reborn

I bring your prayers to tomorrow.