Stuff: Hello, poetry lovers.

Recently I wrote a long review of Sharp Teeth, using that book as a launching pad for discussion of the importance of experimentation in genre fiction. Today, to support the other side of the coin, is a short poem by American poet Ron Padgett. Enjoy.

Mad Scientist

Up goes the mad scientist to the room in his tower
where his instruments gleam in the half-light
while his thoughts are surrounded by the half-dark
that filters out from his heart, but when he goes in
and looks around, all he can see is the chair
covered with a bright red and green serape
and sparks are fizzing in the thought balloon
above his head, for yes, he is a cartoon scientist,
just as everything I think about is a cartoon something
because anything cartoon is immortal
in its own funny little way.

You can find "Mad Scientist" in Padgett's 2007 collection How to Be Perfect from Coffee House Press.