Spoken Word Poem

One of the most memorable moments of EPICOH 2025 was the performance of “The Position of Science”: a powerful spoken word poem by Dutch poet Justin Samgar De Verteller. The poem honors the passion, integrity, and humanity that connect science with society. Listen to the performance below and read the full transcript that follows.

“My name is Justin Samgar De Verteller. I’m a spoken word artist and poet from Amsterdam and I was asked to write a poem for the EPICOH Conference ‘25 in Utrecht. As a poet, I often work with questions that don’t have one clear answer. As scientists, you often work with answers that start from one clear question. But poetry and science, share the same impulse — curiosity. It’s the courage to look closer. Both search for patterns hidden in chaos. Both translate observation into understanding. The difference is only in language — science explains, poetry reveals. Science measures, poetry feels. One divines truth, the other makes truth felt; and somewhere in between those two we find the human voice, the voice that connects data to dignity, discovery, to empathy. That’s where this piece begins, and I hope you will enjoy.”

The Position of Science

Science stands at a crossroads. Not silent, but loud in its load.
Questions echo sharp and clear. Who do we trust? What do we hold dear?
How do we hold the line when doubt is designed and truth redefined, sold as a product?
Wrapped in profit, marketed as fog, and our breath as poison in rivers as stains of forever in children’s flesh?
Regulation was born to protect. A pound, had to weigh, a pound. A word had to weigh the truth.
But now the scales tilt, the balance bends. Some corporations hire science to serve their ends.
They can create whispers.
Doubt is their product, and in that smoke millions choke.
From tobacco to talc, from diesel to dust, from chemicals that never rust to climate denial that deceives and twists.
The playbook repeats, the lies persist.
But listen.
Science is not their weapon. It is our lantern.
Not an axe for the powerful, but a light for the people.
A light that must not only react, but anticipate.
To see danger before it detonates.
To catch the crack before it breaks.
To build systems that sense.
To protect in advance before the worker falls, before the river runs red, before diseases spread like rumors fed.
Prevention is not enough, we need foresight.
From the worker who communicates, to the employer who listens.
From the researcher who investigates, to the society that acts in coalition, protecting the future to a shared vision.
Justice demands recognition.
For the sick kept unseen, for the pain, silenced clean, for the bodies broken by labor denied belief.
Their struggle is not invisible. Their story must be audible, their truth undeniable.
Science is the thread, fragile yet strong.
Between harm and hope, right and wrong.
Between data and dignity, between the weight of history and the promise of tomorrow’s song.
Science belongs to all of us.
Not as a servant to industry, not as an ornament of politics,
but as a compass in the storm.
Integrity non-negotiable, openness unshakeable, inclusivity unbreakable,
trust irreplaceable.
And yet we know
inside the house of science, pressure grows.
Metrics rise, egos climb, results polished till they shine too bright.
But truth is not a number. Truth breeds in humility.
Truth survives transparency. Truth thrives when it serves humanity.
So today we honor those who carry the flame through the smoke.
We thank you,
For vision, for vigilance, for voice, for bridges between science and society, between exposure and protection.
You proved integrity is not theory, integrity is action, integrity is legacy.
To the new generation, the crossroads are yours.
The storm is loud, but the path is clear.
Carry the lantern, guard the flame. Be rigorous, be relevant. Honor the name.
Do not confuse silence with neutrality.
Do not let doubt be bought and sold.
Defend science as a public good, as a common trust, as a promise
to every worker, every community, every child, not yet born.
Science is not for sale.
Science is a covenant.
Science is a voice,
and that voice
must remain
human.