thaumaturgy

ingredients laid before us
neatly in a row
labeled and defined
and sat upon a bench
our recipes writ down
in script so neat and clear
and yet
the results we want
so hard to engineer
we bumble and fumble
drop beakers
bunsen burners break
elixers explode
potions bubble
and boil and belch
in crucibles
we mix and melt
but our solutions
no solution
for though we spark and fizz and burn
we lack the thaumaturgy to turn
our baser metals into gold
the alchemy of us
still yet to unfold