Laboratory

The test tubes bubble in the silence, Their toxic heartbeat strong and loud. Cabinets like sentries frame the wall, Stiff-backed, tall and proud. Atop these, Einstein glares down, Shunning imitation human brains And scorning all the students who think The theory of relativity a pain. On the door, Apollo Seven blasts off, Gases spewing everywhere. (Why bother? Even with that thrust It won’t move anywhere.) Towards the back of the room there sits The forbidden teacher’s desk. (Once a student sat in that chair, He learned, well, teachers didn’t jest.) Some school days are marked with labs— These days to me bring joy. Chemistry, motion sensors, mousetrap cars, Bring them on—oh boy, oh boy! But science bliss cannot last; Soon the end-of-period bell dings. My fellow classmates jam the door, Ecstatic enough at leaving to sing. But I pack more slowly, take some time, Reluctant to leave this dome. For if I could, I definitely would Claim the science realm my home.