He

It took three hundred years

for scientists to arrange the periodic table

into all those sturdy little columns.

Now you’ve gone and fucked it all up.

I guess that makes sense.  After all,

There on top of that nobly named cluster of atoms,

Sits Helium.  He.

Perched upon his gassy throne

He looks down on all the other elements.

And there was certainly never room for a Shelium.

Now, in the ether, a neutron star

is tired of converting platinum into gold

and dust into beings which will not see her

as she truly is for another billion years.

When she implodes nothing will escape her breakdown,

Not even light,

Not even Helium.

Reviews

[i.am.the.sun.]

Thiiiiiis is super cool :) I really appreciate the clever title and wordplay throughout. I might suggest changing "gassy" to "gaseous" though. I think for the second half it would benefit the poem to go more in depth about what a neutron star gives birth to, emphasizing it as a mother, a she. Do stars burn helium? I don't know for sure, but I feel like they do.
I'm not saying the end should be changed to change the tone of the piece, but I'd like to say that it could be interpreted as - if a blackhole (assuming this is what you mean after it explodes - more on that later) doesn't let He escape, maybe that's because she needs He, or at the very least wants He.
Okay, so this prompted me to do a lot of reading on neutron stars and black holes, and I found almost nothing supporting neutron stars turning into black holes until juuuuust now. However, they're very particular circumstances that lead up to that and are assumed to practically never happen. However, when they do - it certainly wouldn't be an explosion, but an implosion.
Maybe you know a whole bunch more about this than I do, which wouldn't be hard to believe, but I thought I'd throw in my two bits.

[Shannon]

Incredibly clever. Especially given your choosen name!
Feminism, science and truly original words combined extremely creatively and without devolving into a lecture. I wouldn't change a thing!

[Patricia Wedel]

dear Word... This is scientifically feasible and
blazingly beautiful... You have a talent that
surpasseth understanding.
Einstein's energy is in your pen. truly, Pat

[aLittlePain]

Very clever word play... I enjoyed this very much. R x

[Patricia Wedel]

dear word, we are made of elements to
evolve into a myriad of emotions that
dissolve into an ocean of possibilities.
truly, Pat

[sinNsincerity]

Shelium, I love that! A lot of thought went into this and has inspired me with some new concepts. Excellent write.

[R J Askew]

Arf, arf, very witty. He is noble too, I note. But outdone in the lightness stakes by the super-abundant hydrogen. But He is super, super cool. I know a couple of neutron stars like that.