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Monday, 18 February 2008

Why I'm not a Research Scientist

six week lab project
with no sign of a result -
grade A for effort.
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measuring wheat stems

in a noisy, dusty room -
cheap student labour.

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counting all the plants
in a square metre of grass -
surrounded by cows

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taking soil samples
to the lab to count earthworms -
rucksack full of dirt.

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bad jobs for Mad Kanes Haiku Prompt.

11 comments:

  1. Crafty Green Poet...thank you for visited my site...keep reading

    I enjoy reading your blog

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  2. Anonymous9:16 pm

    Those are great fun! Thanks for participating in my latest prompt!

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  3. A very good set, Juliet. I like the way "soil samples" is transformed into "dirt."

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  4. Anonymous12:41 am

    You have such a knack for haiku. A friend of mine used to work in a lab and this set reminded me of the way she used to describe it. So well done!

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  5. So true. One college job I had I pulled and weighed tomatoe vines from these measured patches at an Agricultural school. In the winter I ground those vines up into marked vials for analysis by grad. students. In the Spring I recorded the analysis results on a huge paper spread sheet. I have no clue what it all meant, but I got paid!

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  6. Anonymous5:19 pm

    Hi, CGP!

    I thought of you when I saw this ecological literature contest: http://www.knockjournal.org/submit/ecolit-contest.html
    on the Practicing Writing blog.
    I'm passing it along in case you haven't seen it. Seems like a natural for you.

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  7. I totally agree with you about "Fugitive Pieces", it's such a powerful novel, with intense poetic prose. I remember I even listened to A.Michaels in a Venetian bookshop presenting it.
    One of the great fiction memories of the eighties. I never read her poetry though.
    Best wishes, Davide

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  8. HI my backyard, thanks for the recommendation, it looks good! Hopefully I'll get something together before the closing date!

    Davide - Glad you also enjoyed Fugitive Pieces,

    patricija - thanks for visiting

    mad kane - thanks for the prompt!

    bill, selma - thanks!

    rabbits guy - the mysteries of research!

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  9. Anonymous12:54 pm

    Love the sentiment Crafty. I have a 'green' poem I posted yesterday, if you have the time. :)

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  10. i loved those!!!... hilarious...as a gardener i would be in heaven... dirt, earthworms...

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  11. littlewing - oh i like earthworms and soil too, don't get me wrong, but carrying bags of soil around to count the earthworms isn't the best thing to do...

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