Translated from Icelandic by the author
Applied Chemistry
He puts glycerin in soap bubble water
to increase the surface tension
bubbles float longer
brightened by rainbows
before they burst in the sun
He puts nitroglycerin in explosives
to maintain tension
It’s well suited for cars
parked in front of embassies
before they explode in the sun
Nitroglycerin poppers
melt under the tongue
expand coronary arteries
so, the oxygen flows
before the heart stops beating
Lubrication
Just before he left,
he oiled the hinges
on the bathroom door
Now I stand there
and open and close it
all the time
He’s even taken the squeaking
away from me
✶✶✶✶
Ásdís Ingólfsdóttir is a geologist and science teacher at Kvennaskólinn Junior College in Reykjavík, Iceland. She is finishing an MA degree in creative writing at the University of Iceland. She has written textbooks in natural science and chemistry with her colleagues, translated non-literary texts and published poems in collections in Iceland and York, England. Her first book of poetry, Ódauðleg brjóst, was published by Partus Press in Iceland in 2018.
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