Written by Mason LaMarche
Let the snowflake
fall on your hands,
quickly watch it as it melts.
It is ordered so precisely.
The cold air awakens me to realize
the beauty of our disorganized world
is in that which is carefully constructed.
Gorgeous crystals fall over the winter landscape.
Toes dug in the sand, fine particles
form the heterogenous mixture of rocks and minerals.
Within this chaos is an organized theme,
and its warmth makes one feel full.
X-ray Crystallography: a technique which elucidates
the perfect pattern surrounded by entropy.
Famously, Rosalind Franklin spent her life pulling
beautiful structures from beyond our view.
Viruses, graphite, coal all examined by
her gifted mind committed to beautiful science.
And never may we forget her contributions to
uncovering the structure of DNA,
our wonderfully organized blueprint.
So as snow falls around you, crystal and pure.
or if you dig your toes into the sand.
Think once of the microscopic order you are experiencing.
Think once of how it makes our experience so grand.
Recall the work of Franklin who
gave her life to study patterns.
For without understanding structure
we fail to appreciate the intricacies of function.