ODE TO THE PROFESSORS IN CHEMISTRY

Of teaching and research excellence, obvious evidentiary testimony
But you also scaled the nebulous service requirement

A sad limiting factor to transitioning to the Professorial ranks

Thermodynamics decay of celestial bodies is the next frontier, you thundered

Knowledge of Quantum Chemistry underpins all logical reasoning, you argued

Uniqueness of heavy metal composition on the surface of Mars will surprise you, you predicted

Let us revisit the low perception of chemical hazards associated with fufu pounding, you implored

Toxicological menace is encapsulated in plastic waste, you affirmed

The annoying whirling sounds of Analytical instruments are the best part of the chemist’s indispensable toolboxes, you proclaimed

Chemical principles espoused with unbridled passion

Left bewildered students questioning

Where does he derive this wellspring of energy and emotion?

For a course as sedate and prosaic as Chemistry

Where does he derive this clarity of thought?

For a course content circumscribed by rote-memorization

Soon the eyes of your understanding will be enlightened, you enthused

And you will also marvel

At the governance of life by chemistry

Life and death, sickness and health, food and nutrition, you lectured

Beauty and personal hygiene products, you affirmed

All owe their centrality in existential dynamics to Chemistry

Long live the Chemistry Professor

Reaction pathways have been clarified by Computational Chemistry

Polymerization reactions have de-mystified enigmatic plastics materials

Methodological clarity in Analytical Chemistry the indispensable key to good data acquisition

Long live the Chemistry Professor

Listless students have been motivated to aspire to achieve academic excellence

And fuzzy formative minds clarified  

Through the simplicity of your didactic instructions

Long live the Chemistry Professor

Latent intellectual fervor in indulgent students have been awakened

Eager bright-eyed young enthusiast now blaze new trails across disciplinary boundaries

Searching for novel insights in alchemy