The mysterious structure of cement

Cement hides its secrets in plain sight.

Dusty, dirty and dry as dishwater

to anyone who pays no mind.

But for those who are piqued

by cement’s subtle slyness

the secrets are a wonder of science.

Is it a crystal? Or amorphous glass?

Why so unwilling to share its true nature?

It’s something of both yet neither,

an improbable conundrum like

yesteryear’s ideas of ether.

The code of cement was recently cracked

slyly by wily minds at MIT.

Regular stacks like crystalline lattice

all on the atomic scale of seeing

but tiny flaws and irregular gaps

form places for water to bond,

making cement one tough weird glue.