Poem: "Segmented Worm Defense League"

[jjhunter]

Posted on behalf of David Kopaska-Merkel

Full Unit Hook-Up, 2005

Segmented Worm Defense League

So many enemies;
bird, vole, salamander,
angler, captain of industry,
cruelly misnamed worm snake,
and the burrowers from within:
bacterium, protist, fungus;
they need protectin’!

They meet regularly,
dream of dominion,
pass resolutions,
raid fishing holes,
picket garden fences,
swap genetic material.

Maybe the league itself
is in segments.
(one for grass raising,
one for nematode relations,
one predator, one prey,
bylaws and soil amendments,
and so on)
and has no prejudice
against the worms that are
undivided wholes.

_

Comments

oh, to be a worm

[(Anonymous)]

I think the "Earthworm Jim" computer game might have been one of the inspirations for this one.

[jjhunter]

As a born and raised Unitarian Universalist (of 'a committee for everything, no really' fame) and member of a robustly democratic co-op house, I'm all too familiar with subcommittees. The line about picketing garden fences is especially spot on--not only is it a great image (I'm picturing worms aerating/fluffing up the soil to form slogans), but it's also an action unlikely to effect change (but satisfying nonetheless!)

U-U

[(Anonymous)]

Also a U-U, tho it's not the only committee-infested part of my life.