• Submit Poetry
  • Support SCP
  • About Us
  • Members
  • Join
Thursday, January 8, 2026
Society of Classical Poets
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Humor
    • Children’s
    • Art
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Human Rights in China
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Terrorism
    • Covid-19
  • Poetry Forms
    • Sonnet
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Villanelle
    • Rondeau
    • Pantoum
    • Sestina
    • Triolet
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Shape Poems
    • Terza Rima
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
    • William Blake
    • Robert Frost
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books
No Result
View All Result
Society of Classical Poets
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Humor
    • Children’s
    • Art
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Human Rights in China
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Terrorism
    • Covid-19
  • Poetry Forms
    • Sonnet
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Villanelle
    • Rondeau
    • Pantoum
    • Sestina
    • Triolet
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Shape Poems
    • Terza Rima
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
    • William Blake
    • Robert Frost
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books
No Result
View All Result
Society of Classical Poets
No Result
View All Result
Home Poetry Humor

‘Dihydrogen Monoxide’ by Andrew Joseph

February 16, 2015
in Humor, Poetry
A A
3
poems 'Dihydrogen Monoxide' by Andrew Joseph

A mysterious substance is ruling our lives.
It flows through our oceans and floats in our skies.
“It’s good for you,” cries four docs out of five.
It will keep your skin young for the rest of your life.
It will grow your corn tall and make your kids bright.
It will keep your drinks cold and improve your sight.
Believe me my friends, don’t be fooled by the hype.
There is something about this that does not seem right.
Why would the great praises of this stuff be sung?
When you breathe in too much, it can swell in your lungs.
When frozen it’s deadly, an Antarctic knife.
When used in some torture, they beg for their life.
So my dear friends I beg you, don’t fall for their ruse
and as for myself I don’t have to choose.
For I shall not be a mere sheep led to slaughter
Because I always prefer my whiskey to water.

 

Andrew Joseph is an aspiring writer and poet from Lima, Ohio. He does his best to squeeze in writing between working full time, and being a full time husband to his wife Julie and full time father to his 4 children.

Featured Image: “An Experiment on a Bird in an Air Pump” by Joseph Wright of Derby, 1768.

ShareTweetPin
The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary.
Read Our Comments Policy Here
Next Post
‘Monarch’ by Shari Jo LeKane-Yentumi

'Monarch' by Shari Jo LeKane-Yentumi

‘Sonnet on the Death of a Friend’ and Other Poetry by Pete Dashwood

'Sonnet on the Death of a Friend' and Other Poetry by Pete Dashwood

‘O Thou Fount of Joy, I Praise Thee’ and Other Poetry by Scáth Beorh

'O Thou Fount of Joy, I Praise Thee' and Other Poetry by Scáth Beorh

Comments 3

  1. Jeri says:
    11 years ago

    Cute and funny! Thanks for posting!

    Reply
  2. Gloria says:
    11 years ago

    A hilarious extended metaphor!

    Reply
  3. Martin Elster says:
    11 years ago

    Hi Andrew,

    This is an entertainingly droll poem! I love the jaunty anapestic meter. I found the last line a bit bumpy, though. Have you considered starting the line with “’cause” instead of “because”? Then you would have a nice anapestic pick-up:

    ’Cause I always prefer my whiskey to water.

    In any event, the last line is inspired. A fun poem!

    The title immediately attracted me, not just because of the dihydrogen monoxide hoax,
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrogen_monoxide_hoax
    but also because I, too, once wrote a poem with that title:
    http://newversenews.blogspot.com/2014/09/dihydrogen-monoxide.html

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. C.B. Anderson on ‘Art and Nature’ and Other Poetry by C.B. AndersonJanuary 8, 2026

    To be perfectly honest, Michael, I never know how what I write will strike a reader. Sometimes things just work…

  2. C.B. Anderson on ‘Art and Nature’ and Other Poetry by C.B. AndersonJanuary 8, 2026

    My wife, Julian, has often asks me why I write poetry when I could be writing songs and making some…

  3. Margaret Coats on ‘Refrigerator Bird’ and Other Poetry by Armaan Fatteh-PatilJanuary 8, 2026

    You write some exceptionally fine lines, Armaan. For one example from each poem: Wrong means reaching. Wrong means getting at…

  4. Margaret Coats on ‘King of Poets’: A Poem by Margaret CoatsJanuary 8, 2026

    Thanks, Margaret B! His inspired words have echoed through the ages, in many languages, and I've memorized Psalm 1 in…

  5. Margaret Coats on ‘King of Poets’: A Poem by Margaret CoatsJanuary 8, 2026

    Thank you for describing my lines with such appreciation, Bhikku Nyanasobhano. The qualities you mention are what I could hope…

Receive Poems in Your Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,621 other subscribers
Facebook Twitter Youtube

Recent Poems

  • Two Sonnets by Nino Martoglio, Translated by Joseph S. Salemi
  • ‘Wall of Ice’ and Other Poetry by James Bontrager
  • ‘King of Poets’: A Poem by Margaret Coats
  • ‘Watercolors’: A Poem by Susan Steele Rives
  • ‘Art and Nature’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson
  • ‘Star of Wonder’: A Poem by James A. Tweedie
  • ‘Yeonmi Park’s Advice to Americans’: A Poem by Warren Bonham
  • ‘Caravaggio’: A Poem by Lisa J. Roberts
  • ‘Refrigerator Bird’ and Other Poetry by Armaan Fatteh-Patil
  • ‘The Oak Trees’: A Poem by Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano
  • ‘A Cardinal on a Snowy Day’: A Poem by Rob Fried
  • Poets Susan Jarvis Bryant and James Sale Respond to Mamdani’s Swearing In as NYC Mayor
  • ‘Single Room Cigarette, 17th Floor Yale Club of Manhattan’: A Poem by Alec Ream
  • ‘Legacy of Light’: A Poem by Martin Briggs
  • ‘The Swarm’ and Other Poetry by Cheryl Corey
  • ‘Lament of a Poet Falsely Accused of Using AI’ and Other Poetry by Paul Buchheit
  • ‘A Gift from the South’: A Poem by Julian Woodruff
  • ‘New Year’s Peeve’: A Poem by Susan Jarvis Bryant
  • ‘Homage to Brigitte Bardot’: A Poem by Joseph S. Salemi
  • ‘Dearth of Emotional Intelligence’ and Other Poems by Russel Winick
  • ‘Fireflies’: A Poem by Mark Stellinga
  • ‘Real Poetry’: A Poem by Eric v.d. Luft
  • ‘Flaws’: A Poem by Joshua Thomas
  • Two Final Poems by Sally Cook
  • ‘Twelve Labors More, Part I’: A Poem by Evan Mantyk
  • ‘A Perfect Match is Found’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson
  • ‘The Seven Crossings’: A Poem by Ulysses Arlen
  • ‘An Open Book’ and Other Poetry by David McMahon
  • A Video Poetry Reading by Paul Erlandson
  • ‘Otto and Octavius at Christmas’: A Children’s Poem by Mary Gardner

Categories

  • Acrostic
  • Alexandroid
  • Alliterative
  • Art
  • Best Poems
  • Blank Verse
  • Chant Royal
  • Classical Poets Live
  • Clerihew
  • Covid-19
  • Deconstructing Communism
  • Educational
  • Epic
  • Epigrams and Proverbs
  • Essays
    • Interviews with Poets
    • Poetry Reviews
  • Featured
  • From the Society
  • Great Poets
    • Dante Alighieri
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Homer
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Robert Frost
    • William Blake
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
  • Human Rights in China
  • Limerick
  • Love Poems
  • Music
  • Pantoum
  • Performing Arts
  • Poetry
    • Beauty
    • Children's Poems
    • Culture
    • Ekphrastic
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Humor
    • Riddles
  • Poetry Challenge
  • Poetry Contests
  • Poetry Forms
    • Haiku
  • Poetry Readings
  • Rhupunt
  • Rondeau
  • Rondeau Redoublé
  • Rondel
  • Rubaiyat
  • Sapphic Verse
  • Satire
  • Science
  • Sestina
  • Shape Poems
  • Short Stories
  • Song Lyrics
  • Sonnet
  • Symposium
  • Terrorism
  • Terza Rima
  • The Environment
  • Translation
  • Triolet
  • Video
  • Villanelle

Quick Links

  • About Us
  • Submit Poetry
  • Become a Member
  • Members List
  • Support the Society
  • Advertisement Placement
  • Comments Policy
  • Terms of Use

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Humor
    • Children’s
    • Art
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Human Rights in China
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Terrorism
    • Covid-19
  • Poetry Forms
    • Sonnet
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Villanelle
    • Rondeau
    • Pantoum
    • Sestina
    • Triolet
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Shape Poems
    • Terza Rima
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
    • William Blake
    • Robert Frost
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books

© 2025 SCP. WebDesign by CODEC Prime.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.