Conduction, by Stuart Kurtz

​Conduction

Silver has the highest conductivity of electricity and thermal energy of any metal
What if Franklin had teamed up with Paul Revere and instead of his iron key
he had Revere fashion him a silver spoon…
a silver spoon inside a Leyden jar tied to a silk string, then to a hemp string
in turn tied to a homemade kite tethered only to the night?

In that darkness the storm clouds gather from two sides and hold
then flank, finally clashing with a great clap of thunder heard everywhere
on earth, the lightning on the high position, “positive,” so it’s called – all in red and more lethal, 
ions taking formation, the smell of fire, the charge, and the kite cannot 
be neutral when positive and negative meet – its frilly carefree days of gliding gone
with the shot sent down its spine and nerves, down the wire, through the hand of
Franklin, the new Prometheus, then settling in the Leyden Jar

Captured particles swirl in revolution in that jar, like a tinderbox for the day
they will spark Revere, the new Vulcan, to hammer the molten metal into tavern tankard,
emptied teapot, and Liberty Bowl

But until then he and Franklin wait for the next storm
and that silver sleeps in the earth

​Stuart Kurtz

​Stuart Kurtz was a staff poet for Verse-Virtual. He has been represented in Poetry Quarterly, Ascent Aspirations, and more. He is a regular reader of his poetry on Sterling Warner’s The Union of Poets Open Mic. Sterling gave him the honour of a quote of approval for his book, Halcyon Days: Collected Fibonacci. He focuses on physical space and matter, and has invented "Photopoems," which are poetic journeys through architectural spaces.