Image processing / (write that paper)

Kate Johnson

Click,
trace, erase.
Lean back 

I can’t be bothered.

Misplaced apathy
             open a tab
                   let the world leak in

Trace, erase
highlight veins

stop scrolling- 

-or you’ll unravel.

Drift out the window
tree-top trance…

…write that paper!

Simplify, discuss
for ocean submission 

Suggest buoys and lifeboats
moor with fine thread
and send

The Science

I wrote this poem while doing ‘image processing', a task that requires manual 'cleaning' of images, in my case, the images are of the tiny tubes which make up veins that transport water in plants. The purpose of taking and analysing many thousands of these images is to understand how and when drought renders these tubes unable to transport water, leading to plant death. Image processing can be tedious and hard to focus on at times. I write here about the struggle of staying on track to complete this task, to ultimately arrange and package the data and explanations into a scientific paper to be sent into the 'open ocean' of journal submissions.

The Poet

Kate Johnson is a plant scientist from the island of Tasmania, Australia. Through her postdoctoral research, Kate focuses on how drought kills plants, information which she hopes will help us to predict and mitigate the effects of climate change on our global flora. Kate loves art, particularly poetry and painting, and is passionate about bringing the sciences and the arts together (Twitter: @KatePlantPhys).

Next poem: Insomnia by Anna Joyce