chiral molecules
By John Hawkhead
we cannot superimpose
cis/trans isomers
In chemistry, a molecule or ion is called chiral if it cannot be superposed on its mirror image by any combination of rotations and translations. This geometric property is called chirality. In Latin, “cis” means “on this side,” while “trans” means “on the other side.
In gender terms ‘cis’ means the gender you identify with matches the sex assigned to you at birth. Trans (gender) is when your gender identity differs from the sex on your birth certificate.
Further reading: Organic Chemistry: Chirality
John Hawkhead (@HawkheadJohn) has been writing haiku and illustrating for over 25 years. His work has been published all over the world and he has won a number of haiku competitions. John’s books of haiku and senryu, ‘Small Shadows’ and ‘Bone Moon’, are now available from Alba Publishing (http://www.albapublishing.com/).
Enjoyed John’s sciku? Check out more of his sciku here: ‘Dark matter’, ‘Spooky Interaction’, ‘Planetarium’, ‘Dancing’, ‘Empty Space’, ‘Averages’, ‘New Beginning’, ‘Interactions’, and ‘Surface Tension’.