X-Ray

Sheena Vasquez

What is important for people to know?
That I’m human.

That I’m becoming more transparent.
An x-ray

Makes clear what resides in the body.
It is a question

That opens an answer.  It is an order
Of understanding.

Beneath a microscope, among
The most beautiful things

You can see: Yellow protein crystal.
How it spikes and turns,

Spirals like a curly girl’s hair.
I work in pursuit

Of evidence suggesting X.
The music of data.

The feeling of it. Being
A scientist

Is 90% Failure. Is Trial.
Is Error. Is

The remarkable 10%.
My life has been

A mirror. A confrontation
With the Unknown.

A growing proof
Of what is Known.

–Danielle Legros Georges