Figure B7 REDOX

A winding stair leads from this solemn scene

Upward to daylight, and a steely gate

All red with rust and twined with tendrils green

Abuzz with life, and creatures, small and great,

Pace their enclosures, pant, and respirate.

So iron, leaf and lung forever burn,

Reduce, combust, exchange and oxidate.

The fire’s flame, th’uncoiling of a fern,

In cycles their electrons remit and return.